Israeli military arrests 30 Palestinians in raid on West Bank refugee camp

Israeli forces arrested dozens of Palestinians during a raid in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank early Saturday.

More than 30 Palestinians were arrested in Al-Fawwar camp, south of Hebron, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. It added that Israeli forces also stormed the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, but made no arrests.

In the city of Tulkarem and its two refugee camps, Tulkarem and Nur Shams, Israeli forces continued its assault for the 83rd consecutive day.

In Beit Furik, southeast of Nablus, a video purportedly shows an Israeli military convoy stopping a Red Crescent vehicle from going into the town, as one of the soldiers was seen assaulting the ambulance driver.

Israeli military raids and settler attacks have intensified across the occupied territory since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, killing over 950 Palestinians and injuring nearly 7,000.

16,400 others have been detained according to Palestinian data.

Days after the 19 January ceasefire in Gaza – which collapsed two months later after Israel resumed its offensive – the Israeli military began an operation dubbed “Iron Wall”, beginning incursions in Jenin which gradually spread to other towns in the northern West Bank.

'Destroying Al-Aqsa'

Separately, the Palestinian foreign ministry on Saturday said that it had received concerning reports that Israeli settler groups had called for the bombing and demolition of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's third most holy site.

In a press release, the Ramallah-based foreign ministry said these calls were a "systematic incitement to escalate the targeting of Christian and Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem".

It said that Israel's far right government had begun to feel emboldened to "implement its expansionist and racist Judaisation plans, given the muted international response to the genocidal acts and crimes it is committing, particularly in the Gaza Strip".

The ministry called on the international community and UN institutions to seriously address the matter and urged Israel to adhere to international resolutions and end its attacks on the Palestinian people.

Extremist Israeli groups have called for the demolition of the mosque and reconstruction of a Jewish temple which they believe stood there in ancient times.

Jordan, the custodian of Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, have warned Israel about changing the status quo in the city, as Israeli settlers are often allowed to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, supervised by security forces.