Israeli forces have stormed towns across the West Bank, killing one youth and arresting several other Palestinians.
Israeli forces have shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian youth and injured several others, in addition to arresting at least 20 Palestinians across the West Bank.
According to the Defense for Children (DCIP) organization in Palestine, Israeli forces shot Neehel Ziad Mohammad Bregheith in the head on Wednesday as he was leaving for school in Beit Ummar, near Hebron in the southern West Bank.
The organization said soldiers stormed the town, with snipers taking up positions on the rooftops. Thereafter, confrontations ensued between Israeli forces and residents in the town.
Israeli forces opened fire with live ammunition, resulting in 10 injuries, including at least two serious injuries.
Warning: I rarely share vivid videos like this
A Palestinian blindfolded, running. Executed in cold blood by a sniper. In the West Bank, NOT Gaza. ALL Palestinians are under attack. https://t.co/7Frk8t1jDd
— Remi Kanazi (@Remroum) February 15, 2024
100 Palestinian children have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to documentation collected by DCIP, “when the Israeli military began a full-scale military offensive on the Gaza Strip dubbed Operation Iron Swords.”
Arrests
The Israeli army has arrested at least 20 Palestinians from the West Bank, including a child, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society have said, according to Aljazeera.
The arrests took place in the towns of Tulkarem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Jenin and Jerusalem.
The report states that the organizations said arrests were “accompanied by widespread acts of abuse, severe beatings, and threats against the detainees and their families.” This is in addition to attacks against properties.
According to the Palestinian Information Centre (PIC), among those arrested is a senior Islamic Jihad official, Nadir Nassar, from his home in northern Tulkarem.
The total number of Palestinians arrested since October 7 now stands at 7,040, the Aljazeera report states.
Across the occupied West Bank since October 7th, Israeli forces have killed 395 Palestinians, injured 4,500, and have taken over 7,000 hostages. pic.twitter.com/BL5LxcJkkT
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 15, 2024
Clashes
Armed clashes between Israeli forces and the resistance fighters reportedly took place in Nablus.
In Ramallah, some Palestinians were injured by live ammunition when Israeli forces stormed Ramallah City and Beitunia town and clashed with local youth.
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin said that “our fighters were able to target the Shaked settlement south of Jenin city with machine guns on the evening of Wednesday and the fighters withdrew safely.”
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Qalqiliya said “our fighters were able to target the Sufin camp and the checkpoint area with explosive devices early this morning (Thursday).
Masafer Yatta
The PIC reports that a group of armed Jewish settlers escorted by soldiers stormed the al-Majaz village in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the West Bank, and assaulted local residents after raiding their homes and stealing their cellphones.
Armed settlers also defiled the only mosque in the village, damaged its doors, windows, and furniture, tore up a number of Qur’ans, and shouted threats and insults against the local residents through loudspeakers, according to the PIC.
The IDF has attacked and destroyed two Palestinian publishing houses in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/wAlxVSGcDZ
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 15, 2024
The settlers also uprooted ten olive trees, and prevented a local resident from reaching his farmland, according to the WAFA news agency.
One settler also randomly shot heavy gunfire near Palestinian homes in the Badia Umm Qissa area in Masafer Yatta, “posing a threat to the life of the area’s residents.”
Home Demolished
Israeli forces bulldozed the home of a prominent Palestinian researcher in the town of Silwan in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Fakhri Abu Diab, a Palestinian researcher specializing in Jerusalem Affairs, said that Israeli police, accompanied by a bulldozer, raided the town and proceeded to demolish his house in the Al-Bustan neighborhood after forcing him and his family to evacuate it, reports WAFA.
He said he had received a demolition order against his house 15 years ago, under the pretext that it was built without a permit.
Abu Diab said that Israeli forces demolished his house as a part of the collective punishment policy against his family, “who stands against colonial operations and expansion and land seizures in the Silwan neighborhoods.”
A Palestinian man campaigns against Israel demolishing the homes of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
So Israel demolished his home. pic.twitter.com/4Fnsb7PZR3
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 15, 2024
He said two families lived in the house along with his family, adding that it includes 10 individuals who have now become homeless, reports WAFA.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller reportedly told the media on Wednesday that “We believe that demolition not only obviously damages his home, and his family, and the lives that they have built there, but the entire community who live in fear that their homes may be next.”
“He has been an outspoken community leader, including against demolitions, and now his family has been displaced,” Miller added.
The home is situated close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and was reportedly demolished to make way for a planned biblical theme park.
(PC, WAFA)
