By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

“Nearly 1,000 students are besieged in the two schools, while eight schools have been evacuated.” Ahmad Jarara’a, Qabatiya Education Director

At least three Palestinians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces who besieged a house during a raid on the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin.

Israeli forces invaded the town early on Thursday and continued to send military reinforcements and bulldozers as armed clashes with resistance fighters broke out.

The soldiers encircled a residence and bombarded it with shoulder-fired missiles, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. Witnesses captured footage of the Israeli forces transferring the bodies of the three Palestinians to the roof of the house before bulldozers began demolishing it.

Israeli occupation bulldozers are currently demolishing the building they are besieging in the town of Qabatiya south of Jenin. pic.twitter.com/LJjkiaq9ul

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 19, 2024

Israeli forces obstructed Red Crescent teams from reaching the besieged house, conducted searches from the roof of one of the homes where the attack occurred, and detonated a bomb in the vicinity, the Quds News Network (QNN) reported.

Ambulance crews managed to transport a young man who sustained a shoulder injury near the besieged house.

They also fired tear gas at several journalists who were present to cover the raid.

Schools Besieged

At the same time, Israeli forces advanced onto the Izzat Abu al-Rab and Qabatiya Elementary schools.

Video footage shared by QNN showed children screaming and panicking as Israeli forces besieged the school.

Panic is reported among Palestinian students in a school besieged by Israeli forces amid an ongoing military raid in Qabatiya city in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, right now. pic.twitter.com/lGwXWqZ9ZU

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 19, 2024

Qabatiya Education Director Ahmad Jarara’a reportedly said that “nearly 1,000 students are besieged in the two schools, while eight schools have been evacuated.”

“The situation is very dangerous, and we are trying to ensure the safety of the students through continuous communication to secure their exit,” he said, adding that Israeli forces have turned the area around the schools “into a war zone.”

WAFA reported that many students suffered from the inhalation of tear gas fired by the Israeli forces near both schools.

Israeli bulldozers also destroyed infrastructure such as roads and a police station in the town.

Hebron Raided

Israeli forces on Thursday also stormed the city of Hebron (Al Khalil) as well as the town of Idhna, west of Hebron and tightened military measures at the entrances to the governorate, reported WAFA.

Israeli forces raided Idhna, amidst gunfire, sound bombs and toxic gas, the report said.

The occupation forces also raided several neighborhoods in the city of Hebron, and set up several military checkpoints at the entrances to the towns near the bypass road and the entrances to the towns with Hebron. They also tightened military measures at the entrance to Al-Fawar camp, and detained residents leaving the camp for work, and assaulted them.

Settler Attacks

Earlier,  a group of illegal Jewish settlers also attacked two schools in the village of Al-Jab’a, located southwest of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, reported WAFA.

Diab Mash’ala, the head of the Al-Jab’a village council, said settlers hurled stones at both the Al-Jab’a Boys Elementary School and the Al-Tawafuk Mixed Secondary School.

The incident caused panic among students, prompting the teaching staff to escort those affected back to their homes safely.

Violence in West Bank – Settlers Attack Primary School near Jericho, Leave Children Trapped inside

On Wednesday, Israeli forces briefly detained several teachers from both schools at a military checkpoint at the main entrance to the village.

Also on Thursday, a young Palestinian man was attacked by settlers who assaulted him before releasing a dog on him in the village of Kisan, east of Bethlehem.

WAFA reported that settlers released a dog on Mohammad Saleh Ubaidallah, 19.

The Director of Ambulance and Emergency at the Palestinian Red Crescent in Bethlehem Abdul Halim Ja’afreh told WAFA that Ubaidullah was treated for injuries, bruises and bites on his body.

The Secretary of the Fatah Movement in Kisan Ahmad Ghazal said the settlers attacked Ubaidallah while he was grazing his sheep in the wilderness area.

Scores Detained

At least 27 Palestinians were rounded up in Israeli military raids across the occupied West Bank on Thursday, reported WAFA.

A journalist was among the detainees in the raids that targeted the cities of Nablus, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron (Al Khalil), and other towns in the occupied territory.

Israeli army forces searched and vandalized several homes in Qalqilya and the nearby town of Jayyus, arresting 13 people, witnesses said.

Four more people were detained in Nablus amid clashes between angry residents and Israeli forces, who used live fire and tear gas canisters during the raid, they said.

In Jenin, two people were arrested by Israeli army forces, including a journalist, witnesses said.

More than 10,700 Palestinians have been arrested by the Israeli army in the West Bank since last October amid rising tensions over the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,300 people, according to Palestinian figures.

Seizure of Land

The Israeli occupation authorities have notified the seizure of 7 dunams and 739 square meters of land from the town of Beit Lid, east of the city of Tulkarm, reported WAFA.

One of the owners, Ma’an Rashid, said that the danger of this decision is not in the seizure of only 7 dunams of the town’s lands, but rather that it threatens hundreds of dunams of lands of the surrounding villages, as part of the plan to connect the illegal Anab and Avnei Hefetz settlements.

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He said the issuing of the decision at this particular time was to restrict farmers with the start of the olive harvest season and prevent them from reaching their lands.

Rashid said that the town’s lands have witnessed ongoing attacks and violations by Israeli forces and settlers, the last of which was three weeks ago when they set alight a large tract of the lands planted with olives.

Rashid pointed out that since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the occupation authorities and settlers have prevented farmers from reaching their lands in the targeted Abu Luqa mountain area.

UN Resolution

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine within the next twelve months.

‘Within 12 Months’ – UNGA Passes Resolution Demanding End of Israeli Occupation

The result was 124 in favor, 14 against and 43 abstentions.

The resolution, spearheaded by Palestine, demands that “Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility and do so no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution.”

It also demands Israel’s occupation of Palestine is illegal under international law, including decisions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the UN Security Council (UNSC).

t backed an advisory opinion issued by the ICJ in July that Israel’s Israel’s continued presence in occupied Palestine is unlawful and should be brought to an end “as rapidly as possible.”

(PC, WAFA, QNN, Anadolu)