Today, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces demolished 17 historic homes near Bethlehem, while massive marches were launched to denounce the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. Gaza In various areas of West BankFor its part, Washington and the United Nations warned of continuing settler attacks on the Palestinians.
Hassan Brijiyeh, director of the Office of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority in the city of Bethlehem, said that the occupation army and settlers demolished 17 houses in the village of Shushahla near Bethlehem in the south of the West Bank. He pointed out that the houses were built of old stone and were more than 200 years old.
He pointed out that settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, demolished homes, taking advantage of the preoccupation with the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Shushahla, a small village located near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, between Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron, is inhabited by a number of Palestinian families, the majority of whom were displaced during the past years due to settler attacks.
Marches and confrontations
This evening, several mass marches were launched in various areas of the occupied West Bank, such as Ramallah, Nablus, Jericho, and Tulkarm, in rejection of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and in support of the Palestinian resistance.
Press coverage: Mass march in Tulkarm; Support for Gaza pic.twitter.com/d4w1jofFNc
– Quds News Network (@qudsn) November 1, 2023
Violent confrontations broke out in the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, and the village of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya, and the occupation army fired live bullets and stun grenades at Palestinian youth, resulting in a number of injuries.
⭕️Press coverage
Occupation soldiers fire live bullets at young men during confrontations in the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus.#Palestine now pic.twitter.com/JLmXCvMrM5– Palestinian Information Center (@PalinfoAr) November 1, 2023
At dawn today, the occupation forces stormed cities and towns in Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah, and neighborhoods in the occupied Holy City. Large Israeli forces, consisting of 70 military vehicles, stormed the city of Jenin and its camp from several directions, and deployed sniper teams on the roofs of buildings overlooking the camp. They raided citizens’ homes and tampered with their contents.
Also, 4 Palestinians were martyred and dozens of others were arrested in new incursions carried out by the occupation forces in several areas in the West Bank, as part of an ongoing escalation since the Palestinian resistance launched a battle.Al-Aqsa floodMeanwhile, the West Bank witnessed a general strike denouncing the Israeli massacres in Gaza.
Press coverage: A march in Ramallah in support of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/5MBW3cHeRM
– Quds News Network (@qudsn) November 1, 2023
International warning
Meanwhile, the United States described the violence by settlers in the West Bank as highly destabilizing, and urged Israel to arrest them.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that settler violence in the West Bank is extremely destabilizing and has adverse consequences for Israel’s security in the long term, in addition to being extremely harmful to the Palestinians who live in the West Bank.
He continued, “We sent a very clear message to them that this is unacceptable, it must stop, and those responsible must be held accountable,” referring to US contacts with the Israeli side.
For its part, the United Nations warned of a significant increase in settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. This came in a statement issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in which it indicated the displacement of 820 Palestinians in the West Bank since last October 7.
The office added that the average settler attacks in the West Bank increased from 3 to 7 attacks per day, and reported that since the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, 171 attacks were recorded by settlers on Palestinians, and the attacks caused loss of life and property, in addition to restricting and obstructing the freedom of movement of Palestinians.
The occupied West Bank is witnessing a wave of tension and ongoing field confrontations, which resulted in the martyrdom of more than 120 Palestinians and the arrest of 1,830 others, coinciding with the Israeli army launching a war on the Gaza Strip for the 26th day in a row.
