WEST BANK, (PIC)
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Friday morning besieged a house at the entrance to Balata refugee camp, as part of an escalation of their military assault in the eastern areas of Nablus.
According to local sources, Israeli special forces raided the vicinity of Balata camp and surrounded a house, followed by reinforcements involving military vehicles. The sources reported that the IOF subsequently sealed off all entrances and exits of the camp.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that they received reports of a girl being injured inside the besieged house, yet Israeli forces are preventing ambulance crews from accessing the location.
Earlier, a 16-year-old child was injured by Israeli forces during a raid on the town of Salem, east of Nablus.
Director of the Emergency and Ambulance Center at the Red Crescent in Nablus, Amid Ahmed, confirmed that the ambulance teams treated the child, who was shot in the back during the incursion into Salem.
On Thursday night, the young man Alaa Shawkat Khudair was killed after succumbing to wounds inflicted by Israeli gunfire during a raid on the town of Beita, south of Nablus.
Local sources confirmed Khudair’s death following confrontations with Israeli forces in Beita. The Red Crescent emergency services in Nablus had earlier reported treating him for critical injuries sustained in the chest area before transferring him to the hospital.
The Ministry of Health, for its part, confirmed that 29-year-old Alaa Shawkat Ahmed Khudair was killed by Israeli gunfire, after being critically wounded during the IOF raid on Beita.
Israeli forces continue to impose a full closure on Beita’s main and secondary entrances, firing directly at civilian vehicles amid sporadic clashes.
The IOF also carried out house raids, subjecting residents to field interrogations, assaults, and threats, in an attempt to locate suspects allegedly involved in a previous attack—none of whom have yet been apprehended.
Local sources indicated that Israeli troops are inflicting widespread destruction on the town’s infrastructure, raiding dozens of homes, conducting aggressive searches, and abusing civilians.
In addition, the IOF stormed Beita Girls’ Primary School, confiscating security cameras, vandalizing the school administration offices, and deliberately firing at the school’s water tanks.
This escalation follows the injury of three Israeli soldiers, including one seriously, after an explosive device targeted a military patrol in Beita. The Israeli army subsequently imposed a security cordon around the area in search of the perpetrators.
The bombing was reportedly a response to the intensifying assaults by Israeli forces and settlers across the West Bank.
