Israeli forces step up West Bank raids, target universities

Israeli forces stepped up their raids on the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, targeting two universities and detaining dozens of Palestinians.

Birzeit University, located in the town of Birzeit near Ramallah, was raided by Israeli forces in the early hours of the morning, with five members of the university's security team detained, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The university postponed working hours for staff and students until 9 am as a safety procedure, The New Arab's Arabic language sister site Alaraby Al-Jadeed reported.

Israeli forces also stormed the campus of al-Quds University in the town of Abu Dis near Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Education condemned the raids, calling them a violation of international norms that protect universities and educational institutions.

As well as storming the two universities, 40 Palestinians were detained across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), which said most of the detentions were in Hebron, Nablus and Bethlehem governorates.

Other detentions took place in Ramallah, Jenin, Salfit and Qalqiya, with field interrogations and assaults being reported by PPS.

According to the International Organization of Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners, as of November over 9250 Palestinians are currently detained in Israeli prisons, with 3368 in administrative detention without charge.

Meanwhile, attacks by settlers have continued, with settlers abducting a farmer from the town of Nahalin west of Bethlehem, according to Wafa, which reported that the man was assaulted and kidnapped while ploughing his land.

Settlers also attacked Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta near Hebron, setting fire to a vehicle and tractor and spray painting racist slogans on house walls.

Settler attacks have spiked in recent months, with the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs saying on Monday that in October, settlers carried out 269 attacks against Palestinians that led to casualties or the damage of property.

The UN agency added that in October, 12 Palestinians were killed and 351 were wounded in attacks.

Following Israel's storming of the headquarters of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA in East Jerusalem on Monday, the UK's Minister for the Middle East and North Africa condemned the raid, saying it was "a blatant disreagard of Israel's obligations to protect and respect UN premises."

Chief of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini said that Israeli forces seized furniture and IT equipment, and pulled down the UN's flag to replace it with an Israeli flag.

Israel has previously accused UNRWA, without evidence, of cooperating with Hamas and stopped its operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, exacerbating malnutrition and famine in the latter territory.