Israel intensifies West Bank attacks: One killed, 12 arrested, including child

The Israeli military carried out a string of attacks in the occupied West Bank overnight and into Wednesday, which saw the killing and arrest of several Palestinians as well as homes demolished.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces killed one Palestinian at the site of a traffic accident who the military claimed had tried to snatch a soldier's weapon.

"The accident occurred during a gathering of about 100 Palestinians at the site of a traffic accident near the Al-Arroub camp in the southern West Bank," said Israeli media.

The Kan broadcaster claimed, "A Palestinian tried to snatch a weapon from an Israeli soldier, who then shot and killed him," adding that the incident was being investigated by the army.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a brief statement that it "dealt with the injury of a 40-year-old citizen who was shot with live bullets in the chest and hand."

But the Palestinian Wafa news agency challenged the Israeli claims, saying Israeli forces had opened fire on a pedestrian after people gathered around the site of a car crash, citing security sources. Other reports said the man was merely trying to help people at the crash site.

Al-Ahli Hospital in the town of Hebron confirmed that one man was taken to the emergency unit with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Israel’s military and extremist Israeli settlers have stepped up violent attacks on Palestinians in the annexed territories since the war on Gaza erupted on 7 October last year.

At least 780 Palestinians, including minors, have been killed, and another 6,300 wounded since then.

Thousands more have been arrested, and the latest was overnight when 12 Palestinians were detained, including a child and some former prisoners.

The arrests took place in occupied territory’s Jenin, Qalqilya, Nablus and Ramallah governorates, according to a joint statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

"The [Israeli] occupation forces continue to carry out widespread harassment, accompanied by vandalism and destruction of citizens' homes, in addition to field investigations…which have escalated remarkably over the past period," a statement by the two prisoner affair bodies said.

They added that more than 11,700 Palestinians from the West Bank as well as the occupied East Jerusalem have been arrested since the start of the war on Gaza.

Demolitions continue

Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes has also increased significantly since the start of the Gaza war, particularly in Area C, which constitutes about 60 percent of the West Bank.

The Israeli army demolished a house in the Jordan Valley and a facility in Salfit, on the grounds that these structures were built "without permits in Area C."

"Occupation forces demolished a house in the village of Kardala in the northern Jordan Valley, belonging to citizen Saleh Suleiman Qasim Faqha, and displaced his family," activist Moataz Bisharat told Anadolu Agency.

In the village of Al-Zawiya, west of Salfit in the West Bank’s north, Israeli bulldozers also demolished a tourist facility belonging to Palestinian Muhammad Amer, under the pretext that his building was "without a license," eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

In the southern West Bank, Israeli forces demolished a house in the town of Beit Ummar, according to the Wafa news agency.

"The occupation forces stormed the town with a number of military vehicles, and demolished the house of Iyad Abdel Hamid Awad, who was preparing to move to it…under the excuse that he did not have a permit," the news agency said.

Israeli forces frequently demolish Palestinian homes under the pretext that properties were constructed without legal authorisation. Palestinian homes are also subject to destruction as part of Israel’s collective punishment against the families of individuals suspected of carrying attacks against Israelis.