Israeli forces arrest 13 Palestinians, demolish 8 homes

Israeli security forces arrested 13 Palestinians Monday in addition to demolishing eight homes during a raid on cities in the West Bank and Jerusalem, a Palestinian source said.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC) emailed a press statement saying that the Israeli forces arrested Palestinians from different cities, including Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah.

The PCC also added that among those arrested is the brother of a mother killed in the settlers' arson attack against the town of Duma in the West Bank last July.

Israeli public radio reported that Israeli forces arrested 13 Palestinians wanted for "domestic terrorism and public disorder."

Israeli forces carry out arrest campaigns on a daily basis in the West Bank, mostly searching for 'wanted' civilians.

Sources also said that Israeli forces demolished three homes in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya which belonged to Palestinian families killed during the recent wave of tensions.

They added that substantial forces were deployed throughout the town, who used rooftops of houses as military spots and then began demolishing three 150 square-meter houses.

Consequently, clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces, and two Palestinians were injured after being shot in the legs, whereas dozens suffocated from the tear gas the forces used.

The houses belong to families of Ahmad Abu Al-Rob, Ahmad Zakarna and Mohamad Kamil, killed two months ago during a stabbing and shooting attack in East Jerusalem.

Jibreen Bakri, Governor of Jenin, condemned the home demolitions, and told Xinhua that "these are settlers' methods, which are both rejected and denounced."

Israeli Public radio said that the three home demolitions are in retaliation to the attack carried out two months ago, killing border police officer Hadar Cohen and injuring another police woman.

Furthermore, Israeli forces demolished four other homes in Hebron and Nablus and a fifth in Jerusalem, claiming their construction was unlicensed.

Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian official in charge of the settlers file in northern West Bank, elaborated by saying that three homes were demolished in a small village near Nablus, as Israeli authorities claimed they were built without permits.

The fourth house was demolished in the village of Sourif, close to the West Bank city of Hebron.

In Jerusalem, sources said another house in the neighborhood of Jabal Al-Mukabber was demolished by Israeli authorities who claimed it was also built without permits.

The Head of the Sourif Village Council, Mohamad Lafi, denounced the demolitions, accusing Israel of "targeting and uprooting Palestinians from their lands, to take control of them and annex them to the settlement blocs erected in the area."

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) condemned Monday via its Secretary General, Saeb Erekat, the demolition of eight Palestinian homes in 24 hours by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

"This method needs immediate international intervention," said Erekat, adding that Palestinian leadership records and documents "all the crimes Israel commits against Palestinians."

He added that the Palestinian leadership will present evidence gathered of those crimes to international agencies, specifically the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

In addition, he clarified that Israeli authorities' continued use of collective punishment of Palestinians "violates international law."

Erekat demanded that the international community applies "a stronger response towards Israeli violations," calling on countries including Britain, India and Holland "to vote against these violations at international agencies."

According to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli authorities only approved 1.5 percent of the building permits applied for by Palestinians.

Official figures state that Israeli authorities demolished 157 Palestinian homes in Palestinian territories since September 2015.

The recent wave of violence between Palestinians and Israelis broke out last October killing over 200 Palestinians and 30 Israelis. Endit