Israeli forces continue West Bank raids

RAMALLAH, West Bank, – Israeli forces raided the Balata refugee camp near the city of Nablus on Wednesday and destroyed the local headquarters of the Fatah faction, Palestinian authorities said, as security forces continued sweeps in the occupied West Bank.

The violence in the West Bank underlined the volatile situation facing Israel as it braces for an expected attack by Iran and its proxies following the assassination of a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut and the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Islamist movement Hamas in Tehran last week.

No casualties were reported in Wednesday’s raid, which came a day after at least 11 Palestinians were killed in clashes with security forces carrying out raids around the flashpoint city of Jenin, in the northern West Bank.

Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant movement which is very active in the area, said four Palestinians killed by a drone strike in Jenin during the raid on Tuesday were members of its armed wing. In addition, it said a man killed in the neighbouring city of Tubas in the early hours of Wednesday morning was also a member of its armed section.

Overnight, violent groups of Jewish settlers raided a Palestinian village near Nablus, destroying property but causing no casualties, residents said.

Israeli forces have carried out repeated raids in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza last October, arresting thousands of suspects and clashing repeatedly with armed fighters from militant factions, including Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad.

Many are based in densely packed urban townships like Balata in Nablus or similar areas in cities like Jenin that were originally built as refugee camps for Palestinians who were driven from their homes or who fled during the 1948 war at the time of the creation of the state of Israel.

The Palestinian health ministry said 620 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of the war in Gaza. The figure included 145 minors and women, the ministry said.

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