Israel military raids West Bank camps
Israeli border police manning a checkpoint during an Israeli raid in the Askar camp in the occupied West Bank on June 16. PHOTO: AFP
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories - Israeli troops raided two Palestinian refugee camps in the occupied West Bank's north overnight, the military told AFP, as Israel presses offensives on multiple fronts.
The military told AFP that at 'around 4am Israeli forces entered Balata camp', near the northern city of Nablus, for 'a routine counter-terrorism operation'.
It added that the troops had been deployed to the nearby Askar camp prior to the operation in Balata camp.
Mr Imad Zaki, head of the popular services committee of Balata camp, also told AFP that the military began its raid at 4am on June 18.
'They closed all entrances to the camp, seized several homes after evicting their residents, and ordered the homeowners not to return for 72 hours. These homes were turned into military outposts and interrogation centres,' Mr Zaki said.
'The soldiers are conducting house-to-house and neighbourhood-to-neighbourhood searches, destroying the contents of homes and physically assaulting the residents,' Mr Zaki told AFP.
He added that life had been 'largely paralysed' for the camp's residents but that no injuries were reported.
In a separate statement, the military said that its forces had 'neutralised' one Palestinian overnight in the West Bank village of Al-Walaja near Jerusalem.
They said that as the troops were deployed in the area, a Palestinian armed with a knife 'attempted to stab (Israeli) soldiers who were operating in the area and steal their weapons'.
'The soldiers responded with fire and neutralised the terrorist,' the army said, using a term it normally uses when someone has been killed.
The Israeli military said on June 17 that its forces had been active in various parts of the Jenin area, in the northern West Bank.
It said in a statement that its forces had arrested five Palestinian militants suspected of planning attacks on Israel.
Throughout the Gaza war, violence in the West Bank – a separate Palestinian territory – has soared, as have calls to annex it, most notably from Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Since the start of the war in October 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 939 Palestinians, including many militants, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Over the same period, at least 35 Israelis including civilians and soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids, according to official Israeli figures. AFP
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