Israeli military embarks on abduction spree in Bethlehem, raids other West Bank towns
The Israeli military has launched a campaign of abduction in the city of Bethlehem in the south of the occupied West Bank, nabbing at least 17 people.
The campaign, which targeted the Dheisheh Refugee Camp south of the city on Monday night, came as part of, what Palestinian groups and media outlets denounced as, the regime’s ongoing systematic efforts to pressure the families of the Palestinians who have been either killed or imprisoned by the regime.
Reporters from the Arabic service of Qatar’s Al Jazeera news network confirmed the abductions.
The abductees included brothers of Omar Manaa, who was killed by the regime’s forces during a raid on Bethlehem in 2022 as well as freed prisoners Karam Nasry, Yazan Jaidi, and Saleh Jaidi.
Upon apprehension, the victims were bound with ropes and taken to a building for interrogation.
The Palestinian sources described the measures as another way of the regime’s “terrorizing” Palestinians. Locals also reported hearing sounds of “breaking and shattering” coming from the site.
The campaign targeting the camp also saw the forces raiding a number of houses, including that of freed prisoner Raghad Shamroukh.
According to the sources, the Israeli forces continue to besiege the camp and subject its residents to further raids and abductions.
Raids were also reported elsewhere across the West Bank, including the town of Dura, west of al-Khalil in the southern part of the occupied Palestinian territory, the Kafr Saba neighborhood in the city of Qalqilya, and the Balata Refugee Camp in the city of Nablus, both of which are located in northern West Bank. The latter raid was reportedly followed by confrontation between the invading forces and Palestinian fighters.
The regime has markedly ramped up its aggression across the territory since last October, when it brought the Gaza Strip under a genocidal war.
According to the United Nations, at least 732 Palestinians have been killed by the regime’s forces across the West Bank during the period, throughout which the regime has also killed some 43,846 more Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.
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