West Bank: Gunfire Near "Hashmonaim" Checkpoint; Occupation Forces Impose Security Closure

SadaNews - The Israeli army announced this morning, Saturday, the imposition of a "security closure" on several villages west of Ramallah, in search of what it said was a "gunman who opened fire at the 'Hashmonaim' checkpoint near Ni'lin and then fled, with no injuries reported".

Israeli security officials had warned "of a wave of operations due to government policies", following the double attack that occurred on Friday between Beit Shean and Afula, which resulted in the death of an Israeli man and woman, while the perpetrator was injured from Qabatiya, south of Jenin.

Israeli media reports quoted a security source described as "informed about the details", stating that "a situation has arisen that distracts from the boiling condition in the West Bank territories, and to avoid further escalating the situation, the issue of the infiltration of illegal residents into Israel is being overlooked. This recalls the days leading up to October 7".

Qabatiya Under Fire

Meanwhile, occupation forces continue, for the second day, a large-scale assault on the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.

According to local reports, the Israeli army deployed new military reinforcements to the town on Saturday morning, spreading its vehicles throughout its neighborhoods, and bulldozers blocked main streets leading to it with earthen barriers.

The reports add that the Israeli army "continued to impose a curfew on the town, stormed a large number of homes, destroyed their contents, in addition to uprooting streets and sabotaging infrastructure".

Sources indicated that the occupation forces "converted the home of Ahmed Abu Al-Rub, the perpetrator of the Beisan and Afula operation on Friday, into a military barracks, and took several young men there and abused them".

It was also noted that the army arrested several Palestinians in Qabatiya, identified among them; Ahmed Hassan Nazal, Yasser Khuzaymah, Firas Taleb, Naji Nazal, and Jaafar Shubut.

On Friday, Israeli forces arrested the father and brother of the perpetrator of the car-ramming and stabbing attack that took place in Beisan and Afula in northern Israel, after raiding their home in Qabatiya and taking them to an unknown location, and also subjected family members of the perpetrator to interrogation, according to the same local sources.