Hebron: A Palestinian teenager was injured Thursday by Israeli army gunfire during a raid on the town of Bani Naim, east of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, while the army arrested 32 Palestinians, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses.
According to Anadolu Agency, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that its teams transferred a 16-year-old boy to a hospital after he was shot in the chest with live ammunition during the raid. Israeli forces stormed Bani Naim with several military vehicles and opened heavy fire, eyewitnesses confirmed.
In a separate development, the Israeli army arrested 32 Palestinians during widespread raids across West Bank cities and towns Thursday. The Prisoners' Media Office stated that the arrests targeted several former prisoners and young men, and were accompanied by home raids, searches, vandalism of personal property, and field interrogations of residents. The arrests were concentrated in Hebron province, with 13 Palestinians detained in the town of Beit Ummar, north of the city. The remaining arrests occurred in Bethlehem, Qalqilya, Tubas, Tulkarem, and occupied Jerusalem.
The West Bank has experienced escalating Israeli army and occupier attacks since October 2023. Official Palestinian figures indicate that these attacks have resulted in the deaths of 1,179 Palestinians, injuries to nearly 13,000 others, and the arrest of around 24,000 Palestinians.
In a separate attack, Israeli occupiers set fire to a Palestinian vehicle and an agricultural tractor, completely destroying both, during an attack on the town of Ramin, east of Tulkarem in the northern occupied West Bank, eyewitnesses said. They also attempted to burn other vehicles and homes, but residents, with the help of civil defense teams, extinguished the fires and prevented further damage.
Around 750,000 occupiers reside in 141 illegal settlements and 224 settlement outposts across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. These occupiers have conducted 3,488 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the first half of the year, according to a report by the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.
Palestinians warn that Israel is using such attacks to pave the way for the formal annexation of the West Bank, which would undermine the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state as outlined in relevant UN resolutions. Israel was established in 1948 on lands occupied by armed Zionist groups that committed massacres and displaced at least 750,000 Palestinians. The country later occupied the remaining Palestinian territories and continues to refuse to withdraw from them.