NABLUS, Palestinian Territories: The Israeli military detained several Palestinians in an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, an AFP journalist at the scene said on Friday.
When contacted by AFP, an Israeli military spokesman confirmed the raid and said that “forces operated in the Nablus area to apprehend several suspects involved in terrorist activities.”
“The suspects were subsequently transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning,” the spokesman added, referring to the Israeli domestic intelligence agency.
An official from Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said that “former prisoners, journalists, academics and members of the Legislative Council,” were among those targeted.
The detentions “will only fuel public anger,” said Abdul Rahman Shadid, a Hamas official in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.
Since then, Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 983 Palestinians in the West Bank, including many militants, according to health ministry figures.
Over the same period, at least 36 Israelis, including members of security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official figures.
Meanwhile, the Allenby border crossing — which is the only international gateway for Palestinians to leave the West Bank that does not require entering Israel — reopened on Friday, but later than scheduled.
The crossing had been largely closed since a Jordanian truck driver transporting humanitarian aid to Gaza shot dead an Israeli soldier and a reserve officer at the border last week.
On Tuesday, Palestinian and Jordanian authorities said Israel was indefinitely closing the crossing, which Palestinians feared was retaliation by Israel for France and other Western countries formally recognizing a Palestinian state.
Israel announced on Thursday it would reopen the crossing only for passenger traffic from the next morning.
At around 11:00 am (0800 GMT) on Friday, Palestinian travelers confirmed the reopening, roughly three hours later than scheduled.
Thousands of people gathered in front of the terminal, an AFP journalist on the scene reported.
In an angry UN address on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to block a Palestinian state, accusing European leaders of pushing his country into “national suicide” and rewarding Hamas.
Israel detains Palestinians in Nablus, reopens West Bank-Jordan crossing
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Israel detains Palestinians in Nablus, reopens West Bank-Jordan crossing
- “The suspects were subsequently transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning,” the spokesman added
- The detentions “will only fuel public anger,” said Abdul Rahman Shadid, a Hamas official in the West Bank
Israeli forces open fire on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, no injuries reported
- Lebanese military said in a statement that Israeli violations of its sovereignty caused instability within the country and hindered its own forces from deploying in the south
JERUSALEM: Israeli military forces opened fire on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Sunday, in an incident the UN peacekeeping mission described as a serious violation.
None of the UN forces were reported wounded.
Israeli soldiers had opened fire on two suspects in the El Hamames area near the Israeli border, only later realizing that they were UN peacekeepers, the military said in a statement.
The military said the peacekeepers were misidentified due to poor weather conditions. The incident was under review, it said.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said the Israeli forces had fired from a Merkava tank positioned inside Lebanese territory toward the peacekeepers, who were on foot. Heavy machine gun fire landed five meters from the peacekeepers, who were forced to seek shelter, it said.
The Israeli tank withdrew after peacekeepers contacted the Israeli military through official channels, UNIFIL said.
UNIFIL called the incident a “serious violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which, among other provisions, states that no armed forces should be operating in southern Lebanon except the UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese military.
The Lebanese military said in a statement that Israeli violations of its sovereignty caused instability within the country and hindered its own forces from deploying in the south.
The Israeli military occupies five posts within Lebanon and frequently carries out airstrikes in the country’s south that it says are targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire last year that required the Lebanese militant group not to have any weapons in the south and for Israeli forces to fully withdraw from Lebanon.
Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rearm, while Lebanon’s government accuses Israel of violating the agreement by not withdrawing and continuing to carry out airstrikes.
