Israel Intensifies Raids Against Palestinians in West Bank
RAMALLAH, West Bank—The Israeli-occupied West Bank has become an increasingly deadly front in a Middle East conflict that has spread beyond the war in Gaza, with near-daily Israeli raids into Palestinian villages and cities which Israel says are aimed at uprooting growing militant activity and preventing new attacks. Early on Friday, Israeli security forces ended a two-day raid in Tulkarem, a West Bank city straddling the wall separating Palestinian communities and Israel that hasn’t been known as a hotbed of militancy in recent years, leaving at least eight Palestinians dead. The raids, which lasted for more than 35 hours, occurred in the city and its two refugee camps, Tulkarem and Nour Shams, where residents said Israeli forces destroyed homes and damaged infrastructure, including roads.
The Israeli military said it uncovered explosives, weapons and a bomb factory. Since Israel launched its response to the deadly Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, 357 Palestinians, of whom 90 were children, have been killed across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations.
Five Israelis, including four members of the security forces, have been killed in the West Bank over the same period, the U.N. said. Israeli security officials refer to the West Bank as a third front in the war, after Gaza and the country’s northern border with Lebanon, where Israeli forces clash routinely with Hezbollah fighters and Palestinian militants.
Yet its crackdown in the West Bank presents a security conundrum. Militants in the West Bank are fewer than in Gaza and not as well armed. Hamas has a more tenuous foothold there.
Read more on livemint.com
