Israeli forces raided at least 15 towns in the northern occupied West Bank and detained dozens of Palestinians on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera’s report on the raids. The operations followed an Israeli decision to impose a full closure on the territory after an attack in Hebron killed two Israeli soldiers.
The raids targeted Nablus, Jenin, Tubas and Qalqilya, as well as nearby villages, Al Jazeera reported. In the Nablus area, Israeli forces raided homes and made arrests in Jalud and Qaryut. Arrests were also reported in Arrabeh and Burqin near Jenin, while troops entered Tubas and Aqqaba. Forces separately entered Jericho and the nearby Aqabat Jabr refugee camp.
In Hebron, Israeli bulldozers demolished a three-storey building, with families reportedly given five minutes to collect their belongings. Israeli forces also ordered hundreds of Palestinian families to leave homes in the Ein Deir Bahha area and its surroundings, according to Al Jazeera’s account. The Israeli army said its Hebron operation would continue for several days and that other forces were operating in dozens of areas across the West Bank.
The wider closure was ordered by Netanyahu on Friday after the military said two Palestinian gunmen had attacked a reserve battalion near the Israeli settlement of Telem. Al Jazeera’s earlier report said Netanyahu instructed security forces to close Hebron and prepare a full lockdown across the West Bank, which Israel refers to as Judea and Samaria.
Nearly 1,000 checkpoints and gates across the West Bank will be closed, affecting millions of Palestinians, Al Jazeera reported. The sources describe the arrests, demolitions and evacuation orders, but do not establish how long the broader closure will last or provide an official figure for the total number detained in the latest raids.