TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / January 1, 2025
Clashes intensify in the West Bank as Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades target Israeli forces, while raids and settler incursions continue across Palestinian territories.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian movement Fatah, targeted the Israeli military checkpoint at Awarta, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, with a barrage of gunfire, inflicting “direct hits” against the occupation forces, the resistance group said on Wednesday.
“Our fighters returned to their bases safely,” the group added following the attack on Tuesday night.
In a separate incident early on Wednesday, the Brigades confronted an Israeli incursion into the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, reported Al-Mayadeen, resulting in fierce confrontations.
In Tubas, the Brigade’s fighters engaged in intense battles with Israeli forces around the Fara’a refugee camp, according to Al-Mayadeen.
Israeli Raids
Israeli occupation forces meanwhile stormed the Balata refugee camp, accompanied by a military bulldozer, the report added. Occupation forces fired heavily as they raided several homes, searching through belongings and causing widespread damage.
The Israeli army also raided the town of Tamoun and surrounding areas near the Fara’a refugee camp south of Tubas.
The occupation forces, backed by military patrols and bulldozers, passed through the villages of Al-Nasariya and Wadi al-Fara’a. Israeli reconnaissance drones were spotted overhead throughout the operation, while gunfire was heard during the incursion, according to Al-Mayadeen.
Several detained
Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday detained at least 22 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Four Palestinians, including two brothers, were detained during the raid in Dora town, southwest of Hebron (Al-Khalil).
Also in Hebron district, the occupation forces detained two Palestinians from Ash-Shuyoukh town, northeast of Hebron, and ransacked their homes. They conducted a similar raid in Bani Naim town, east of Hebron, resulting in the detention of two others.
In the Salfit district, the occupation forces barged their way into Deir Istiya town, searched several houses and detained five residents, including two brothers, reported WAFA.
They also conducted a raid in Hares town, northwest of Salfit, resulting in the detention of four others.
A convoy of army vehicles and a bulldozer stormed Tammun, southeast of Tubas, reported WAFA, where the heavily armed soldiers detained five others; a father along with his two sons and two brothers.
Surveillance drones
The Israeli army also raided the town from the direction of the Hamra military checkpoint, as surveillance drones hovered overhead.
Occupation forces also raided the homes of two brothers in Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem, reported WAFA, and conducted similar raids in al-Khader town as well as in the villages of Marah Rabah and Harmala.
According to the latest figures from Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, there are currently 10,300 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centres, including 345 children and 89 female prisoners, reported WAFA.
This number includes 3,428 Palestinians placed under administrative detention, which allows the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable intervals ranging between three and six months based on undisclosed evidence that even a detainee’s lawyer is barred from viewing.
Settlers storm Al-Aqsa
WAFA also reported that hundreds of illegal Jewish settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied city of Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Approximately 630 Jewish settlers, under the protection of the occupation forces, barged their way into the compound and performed provocative rituals and tours inside, the report added. It comes at a time when the occupation forces denied Palestinians access to the Old City of Jerusalem and the mosque compound.
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has beefed up restrictions at the gates of the site and the Old City of Jerusalem, WAFA reported.
