IOF Storm West Bank, Raid Homes, and Arrest Palestinians

The Israeli occupation continued its series of raids in several towns and villages in the West Bank, amid attacks on Palestinian homes after their owners and residents confronted the invading forces. 

They also raided the Old Town in Qalqilya and barged into a number of houses to arrest Palestinians there. 

Israeli occupation forces, during the early hours of Friday, stormed the towns of Sinjil and Turmusayya, in north Ramallah. 

Meanwhile, the occupation forces storming Qalqilya were shot at, which prompted them to call for reinforcement in the center of the town, according to Palestinian media. 

The IOF also raided the town of Yatta in southernmost al-Khalil. 

Ex-French envoy calls West Bank settler violence ‘ethnic cleansing’

Since the Israeli occupation launched its onslaught in Gaza, it simultaneously increased aggression and violence in the West Bank, which includes daily raids, arrests, and settler attacks against Palestinian civilians and their properties. 

Last week, former French ambassador to the Israeli occupation from (2003-2006), Gérard Araud, confirmed that what is happening now in the West Bank, with the settlers’ assaults and their attempts to seize Palestinian lands, is “outrageous” and constitutes “ethnic cleansing”.

In a television interview, Araud said that “the settlers are taking advantage of the current situation to assault Palestinians as usual, to get rid of some communities and villages.”

He added that “the scandal is that Europe does not take a strong stance, while the reality is that the settlers are doing this to make the two-state solution impossible,” stressing that “what is happening is very dangerous.”

“European countries must act firmly and strongly,” he maintained.