The Israeli army frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for 'wanted' Palestinians [File: Abed Omar Qusini/Reuters]
Ramallah, November 16 (RHC)-- Israeli forces have shot dead a 26-year-old man in the northern occupied West Bank city of Tubas after a confrontation broke out during a raid early on Tuesday, Palestinian medics said.
The man was identified as Saddam Hussein Bani Odeh, from the village of Tammoun – about 5 km (3 miles) south of Tubas city. Bullets fired by an Israeli soldier at the entrance to the city penetrated his shoulder, heart, and left lung, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Palestinian news agency Maan reported that the incident took place after confrontations broke out in the area between Israeli soldiers and residents of Tubas, shortly after Israeli troops raided the city overnight as part of a wider crackdown on areas in the West Bank.
At least two men were arrested from their homes during the raid, while eight others were detained from other areas across the occupied territory early on Tuesday.
Witnesses told local media that Israeli troops who raided Tubas belonged to a “special unit”. The wider raid and arrest campaign also took place in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said in a statement.
The arrests come days after Israel announced it would advance plans for 3,000 more homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, despite international criticism of the illegal construction. They also come amid a steep rise in violence committed by Jewish settlers in the West Bank against Palestinians, including against farmers harvesting olives.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have built settlements in the West Bank that are considered illegal under international law. Some settler outposts are also illegal under Israeli law. But the government has been slow or unwilling to evacuate them. The Israeli army frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.
According to Palestinian figures, some 4,650 Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli detention facilities, including scores of women and hundreds of minors. At least 500 of them are being held as administrative detainees, a practice in which Israel detains Palestinians without charges for renewable six-month intervals.
