OCHA: Israel carried out 66 search-and-arrest operations, arrested 43 Palestinians in two weeks

Israeli forces carried out 66 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 43 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank during the period between April 13 and 26, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its biweekly report.

A total of 31 Palestinians were injured by Israeli occupation forces across the West Bank. Twenty-four of them, according to the report, were wounded in demonstrations that took place in solidarity with Jerusalem protests in the cities of Tulkarm, Bethlehem and Al Bireh, and the villages of Deir Sharaf and Al Lubban ash Sharqiya.

In addition, four Palestinians were wounded in a weekly protest against settlement activities the village of Kafr Qaddum, two in a search-and-arrest operation in Aqbet Jaber refugee camp, and one in clashes with colonial Israeli settlers accompanied by Israeli forces in At Tuwani village. Of the injuries, sixteen were treated for tear gas inhalation, six were hit by rubber bullets, five were shot with live ammunition, and four were physically assaulted.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation authorities confiscated two structures in the community of Susiya, near Hebron, for lack of building permits, undermining the livelihood of a family of eight. Israeli occupation forces also bulldozed 120 Palestinian-owned olive and almond trees as well as terraces in Al Walaja, near Bethlehem, on the grounds that the area had been declared ‘state land’.

Beyond the incidents in Jerusalem city, said OCHA, perpetrators believed to be Israeli settlers injured a Palestinian civilian and damaged dozens of Palestinian-owned trees across the West Bank. The injured man was working his land when he was attacked, reportedly by a settlement security guard, near Al Khader village (Bethlehem).

Another man was physically assaulted but not injured in Huwwara (Nablus). About 90 olive trees were damaged in four locations, over 100 dunums of seasonal crops were vandalized in three locations, and damage was reportedly caused to a house under construction, fences, retaining walls, an agricultural gate, water-related structures, and cars.

In Wadi as Seeq (Ramallah), Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian herders, resulting in the death of two sheep. In Mughayir al Abeed, settlers stoned Palestinians, forcing them out of the area, installed two tents and occupied a cave for seven days, before Israeli forces dismantled the tents and forced them out.

Source : Safa