OCHA: In two weeks, Israeli forces carried out 66 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 43 Palestinians
In two weeks only, the Israeli occupation forces carried out 66 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 43 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank.
In its biweekly Protection of Civilians report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory said that between 13-26 April, the Israeli forces carried out 66 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 43 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank. Of those,14 operations were in Hebron and 12 in Nablus governorates.
OCHA also said that in occupied Jerusalem, 208 Palestinians, including seven children, were arrested by the Israeli forces.
The events started on the first night of Ramadan, 13 April, after the Israeli occupation authorities installed metal barriers outside the Damascus Gate, blocking access to a public area, where Palestinians traditionally gather during the month in the evenings after breaking the fast. Calm was restored on 25 April, when the Israeli authorities removed the metal barriers.
“In Gaza, on at least 18 occasions, Israeli forces opened warning fire near the perimeter fence or off the coast, reportedly to enforce access restrictions. On another three occasions, Israeli forces conducted land levelling near the fence. No injuries were reported,” it said.
OCHA also said that the Israeli authorities confiscated two structures in the community of Susiya (Hebron) for lack of building permits, undermining the livelihood of a family of eight.
It said that the decline in demolitions and confiscations witnessed in recent weeks is consistent with the practice in previous years during the month of Ramadan (with the exception of 2020, where about 40 structures were targeted).
Israeli forces bulldozed 120 Palestinian-owned olive and almond trees as well as terraces in Al Walaja (Bethlehem), on the grounds that the area had been declared ‘state land’.
