Israeli forces raid refugee camp, town north of occupied Jerusalem

Israeli forces raided the Qalandiya refugee camp and the town of Kafr Aqab, north of occupied Jerusalem, early Wednesday and imposed strict restrictions, including preventing dawn prayers at mosques in the camp, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.

In a series of statements received by Anadolu, the governorate said Israeli forces launched a large-scale raid on Qalandiya and Kafr Aqab.

The forces imposed a curfew on the streets of Kafr Aqab and deployed military vehicles throughout the area, it added.

Israeli forces prevented dawn prayers at all mosques in Qalandiya and sent text messages to several residents announcing the start of a large-scale military campaign in the camp, the governorate said.

The forces also arrested the father of slain Palestinian Laith al-Shawani, while an Israeli military vehicle ran over a young man near the camp, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

No information was immediately available about the young man’s condition.

The Israeli army separately announced the launch of a large-scale operation in the Qalandiya refugee camp.

“The army has begun carrying out a wide-scale operation in Qalandiya camp,” Yoram Halevy, Israel’s coordinator of activities in the Palestinian territories, said on Facebook.

Halevy did not specify how long the operation would last. He called on Palestinians to “comply with the instructions of security forces during the operation and avoid any unnecessary friction.”

Israeli forces conduct daily raids across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The UN does not recognize Israel’s 1967 occupation of the city or its 1980 annexation.

Israeli army and settler attacks against Palestinians and their property have intensified across the occupied West Bank since Israel launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 8, 2023.

The attacks have killed more than 1,182 Palestinians, injured around 13,000 and led to the arrest of nearly 24,000 others in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to official Palestinian figures.

They have also involved the demolition of homes and other structures, the burning of mosques, the razing of farmland, restrictions preventing farmers from reaching their land, forced displacement and settlement expansion.

Palestinians warn that Israel is seeking to pave the way for the formal annexation of the West Bank through such attacks, undermining the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state under relevant UN resolutions.