West Bank: Israel Forces Arrest More Palestinians

Israeli Occupation Arrests More Palestinians in Ongoing Aggressions

The Israeli occupation army arrested overnight six Palestinians in the West Bank town of Qalqilya. Israeli military sources said that most of those rounded up are suspected members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

They included a senior member of the group's armed branch. Troops also arrested a Palestinian near the West Bank town of Jenin late Sunday. 22-year-old Ismail Abu Shaaduf, a member of the Al- Quds Brigades, was caught during a flash raid on Birqin village.

Around 20 jeeps moved into the village after nightfall, firing tear-gas and sound grenades at villagers, before surrounding several houses for search. In Tulkarem refugee camp, around 25 Israeli tanks and military jeeps pushed into the West Bank camp overnight.

The invading forces quickly surrounded a number of houses, using explosives to blow the doors in.

Shooting broke out between the occupation soldiers and Palestinian resistance fighters. In retaliation, Hamas movement fired five mortar shells towards the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, damaging the roof of one house. It also claimed responsibility for firing five mortars at Netzarim settlement just south of Gaza City.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie convened the cabinet meeting in the Gaza Strip on Monday, while clashes continued in the West Bank city of Nablus between Israeli occupation troops and Palestinians.

The Israeli occupation army extended its aggression in the West Bank city of Nablus igniting more clashes with Palestinian stone- throwers. The downtown area has been under curfew for at least 8 days as troops conducted house-to-house searches and carried out arrests of Palestinians.

Senior Advisor to Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, Nabil abu- Rdeineh, said the escalation in Nablus is endangering the revival of the"roadmap". Meanwhile, an Israeli military tribunal sentenced five Israelis to a year in prison for refusing to serve in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The five, all aged around 20, had already been convicted last month of insubordination, after a court martial rejected their refusal to serve on grounds of conscience, saying their motives were political. Hagai Matar one of the servicemen said, "we did not expect anything else from the tribunal of an army which occupies and oppresses a whole people and from a regime which has forgotten the meaning of democracy."

© Scoop Media