Ramallah, December 11 (RHC)-- Heavily-armed Israeli forces have entered the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and raided the offices of the official Palestinian news agency.

Wafa news agency reported on Monday that Israeli forces had broken into its offices and searched the premises, including checking the IDs of the workers present on site.  They also searched the photography and editing offices.

According to employees, Israeli forces inspected computer servers and the building's security cameras.  The troops seized the security camera footage of a nearby building.

This came after a series of fierce clashes erupted a few hundred meters from the house of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after Israeli soldiers entered Ramallah on Monday morning.

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms, also known as MADA, says hundreds of violations of media freedoms have been carried out by the Israeli regime since the start of the year.

Last month witnessed an escalation in the number and gravity of the attacks targeting media freedoms in Palestine in comparison with the preceding month.  In November 2018, the number of attacks monitored by the MADA totaled 57 attacks, 49 of which were committed by the Israeli occupation.

In addition, the United Nations says violence and vandalism committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property have been on the rise since the beginning of the year 2018.