Israeli forces raid house, injure dozens of Palestinians in West Bank town

Skirmishes started after the Israeli forces encircled a house in the early hours of Tuesday looking for two people who were said to be inside.

Heavy gunfire rang out in the town following an hours-long siege on the home. Local sources said that soldiers exchanged fire with armed Palestinians inside and outside the house and clashed with angry local youths in the area.

The Israeli military forces fired several anti-tank missiles at the house.

The Israelis said the two Palestinians were suspected of shooting at an armored vehicle in the occupied West Bank over the weekend. They were eventually arrested.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics had treated four people for gunshot wounds. Ahmad Jibril, the head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Emergency and Ambulance Department, said 21 other people were injured by bullet shrapnel and rubber-coated bullets.

Dozens suffered breathing difficulties from tear gas fired by the Israeli forces.

Jibril confirmed that the soldiers prevented ambulances and medical teams from reaching the injured and even used them as human shields.

The soldiers, he added, opened fire toward a Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) ambulance, causing damage to it.

The situation in the city remains tense hours after the event. A number of people were also arrested by undercover Israeli agents in the area.

In separate raids across the West Bank, Israeli forces took into custody another 10 Palestinians.

The Israeli military frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the West Bank under the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.

More than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly held in Israeli jails. Hundreds have been incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention, which allows holding Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons without trial or charge. Some Palestinian prisoners have even been held in administrative detention for up to eleven years.