Israel puts West Bank city on lockdown following alleged stabbing attack

Israeli military forces have put a city in the southern part of the occupied West Bank on complete lockdown in the wake of an alleged stabbing attack, which left an Israeli man critically wounded.

An unnamed Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma’an news agency on Thursday that Israeli forces placed Yatta, located approximately 8 kilometers south of al-Khalil (Hebron), under a complete closure hours after the purported assault, and blocked all entrances and exits of the city.

“All crossings and passages from the village will be permitted for Palestinians only after security checks,” she said. 

The spokeswoman added that Israeli forces stormed the alleged assailant’s home and conducted a search operation late last night. 

She added that overnight on Wednesday. However, the spokesperson said no detentions were carried out, and added that there were no reports of Israeli forces interrogating Abu Aram's family members during the raids. 

She also noted that the army did not have any reports on whether any items were found during the raid. 

A 42-year-old Israeli man sustained serious wounds on Wednesday morning, when 19-year-old Ismail Ibrahim Abu Aram from Yatta entered a supermarket in Yavne and stabbed the man several times in his upper body. 

The Palestinian teenager was then tackled to the ground by civilians, before Israeli police forces arrived to arrest him.

Israeli medical sources said the man has sustained stab wounds to the chest, neck and head. He is reportedly in stable condition. 

The occupied Palestinian territories have witnessed new tensions ever since Israeli forces introduced restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshippers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.

More than 300 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces in the ongoing tensions since the beginning of October 2015.

The Tel Aviv regime has tried to change the demographic makeup of Jerusalem al-Quds over the past decades by constructing settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population. Palestinians say the Israeli measures are aimed at paving the way for the Judaization of the city.

The al-Aqsa Mosque compound is a flashpoint Islamic site, which is also holy to Jews. The mosque is Islam’s third holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Israel to demolish 23 Palestinian homes northeast of al-Quds

Meanwhile, the Israeli regime is set to demolish nearly two dozen Palestinian homes despite international condemnation against the regime’s demolition campaign against Palestinian homes and properties.

Palestinian sources told the official Wafa news agency that Israeli officials have issued demolition orders to tear down 23 homes in the Bedouin al-Fahidat neighborhood, located northeast of Jerusalem al-Quds. The sources added that local residents have been given 72 hours to appeal the orders.

The United Nations announced in late April that a total of 588 Palestinian structures had been razed since January, adding that the demolitions have affected more than 1,000 people as they have lost structures related to their source of income.

The majority of demolitions took place in Area C of the West Bank, which is the largest division in the occupied territory as it comprises 60 percent of the land, and is under full Israeli military control.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in a statement on April 8 that 124 Palestinians, including 60 children, had been made homeless in a single day as a result of Israeli demolitions in the West Bank.

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