Israeli troops arrest 14 Palestinian civilians across West Bank

Rasa - Israeli military forces have reportedly arrested more than a dozen Palestinians, including prominent writer and political analyst Ahmad Qatamish, during separate overnight operations across the occupied West Bank.

News ID: 429637

Date: 14 May 2017 - 20:38

RNA - Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli military vehicles rolled into the central West Bank city of al-Bireh, located 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) north of Jerusalem al-Quds, early on Sunday, Arabic-language Ma’an news agency reported.

Israeli forces raided Qatamish’s house, and violently ransacked it before taking him away to an unknown location.

Israeli soldiers also stormed the town of al-Tira, and detained one Palestinian there.

Moreover, two Palestinians were detained in the village of Nahalin, one in al-Farah refugee camp in the northeastern Tubas district and two others in the city of Qalqilya.

Six Palestinians were detained in Jenin refugee camp as well. Local sources identified one of those detained as Yassin al-Amori.

Israeli soldiers also shot a young Palestinian man in the leg during skirmishes in the camp.

Eyewitnesses, requesting anonymity, said Israeli forces raided Jenin camp in the early hours of Sunday. They broke into dozens of homes and violently searched them, causing excessive property damage, before firing live bullets and hurling tear gas canisters to disperse the protesting crowd.

Yazan Muhammad Jaaisa, 20, was struck in the leg and transferred to Jenin governmental hospital to receive medical treatment. Doctors described his injury as “moderate.”

Israeli bulldozers cross into Gaza, level lands

Meanwhile, a number of Israeli bulldozers has crossed the border fence into the besieged Gaza Strip and flattened private Palestinian lands.

According to local sources, the invading convoy, dispatched from Israel's Kissufim military base, advanced some 50 meters into the Palestinian territory along the separation fence, and flattened farming lands ahead.

A number of Israeli surveillance aircraft were also reported to have flown at low altitude over the area while the bulldozers were busy leveling the lands. No gunfire or shelling was reported.

The Israeli regime has long been conducting daily incursions into Gaza and in the vicinity of the so-called buffer zone, which lies on both land and sea sides of the strip.

Israeli forces often fire at those Palestinians, who work in the vicinity of the zone. Tel Aviv has not yet made clear the exact demarcation of the designated zone. The practice has in effect devastated much of the agricultural and fishing sectors of the besieged coastal enclave.

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