Israeli army arrests 10 Palestinians in West Bank raids, tear-gasses wedding guests

Israeli forces swept through the occupied West Bank early Saturday, arresting at least 10 Palestinians — among them a woman — in raids centered on the northern city of Nablus, local sources told Anadolu. Other Palestinians were assaulted during the operation. Military vehicles pushed into the Balata and Askar refugee camps east of the city, the Ein Beit al-Ma' (Ein Camp) camp to the west, and the Iskan Rujeib, Al-Masakin Al-Sha'biya, Balata al-Balad and Askar al-Balad neighborhoods.

In Nablus, the army emptied a house in the city's eastern area and turned it into a military barracks while carrying out field interrogations of several Palestinians, the sources said. Young men were injured when soldiers beat them during raids on Balata refugee camp and the Balata al-Balad area. Troops also raided the town of Tammun south of Tubas, searched several homes and tightened military restrictions at the Ein Shibli checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley, disrupting residents' movement.

Further north in Jenin province, forces raided homes in the village of Al-Mughayyir east of the city and entered the Wadi Burqin area southwest of Jenin early Saturday. In the southern West Bank, the army closed a side road near the military gate at the entrance to Al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron, on Saturday morning, local sources said.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that soldiers stormed a wedding reception at a hall in Al-Mughayyir Friday evening and fired tear gas at around 150 guests. Four Palestinians were detained inside the hall, including the groom, Hassan Abu Aliya, and assaulted before being released several hours later, the agency said.

In Jericho and the Jordan Valley province, Israeli forces raided a venue Friday evening that had been prepared to welcome released Jerusalem detainee Mohammed Nasser al-Hindi, dispersing those present and destroying its contents, according to local sources. In the central West Bank, forces raided the town of Beitunia west of Ramallah and shut the entrance to Al-Mughayyir village northeast of the city, preventing people from entering or leaving.

Attacks by the Israeli army and Israeli occupiers against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank have intensified since Israel's war on the Gaza Strip began in October 2023, including killings, arrests, demolitions of homes and other structures, arson and the destruction of agricultural land, along with settlement expansion and the displacement of residents. Palestinians warn the practices are paving the way for Israel's formal annexation of the West Bank and undermining prospects for an independent Palestinian state under relevant UN resolutions.