The Israeli army has raided two Palestinian towns in the southern occupied West Bank, forcing shop owners to close their businesses and assaulting residents, according to witnesses and Palestinian state media.
The raids came during peak shopping hours as town centres were crowded with residents preparing for the Eid al-Adha holiday and after the Palestinian government released part of the public employees’ salaries.
The main raid focused on Dura, south of Hebron, where witnesses told Anadolu agency that Israeli military vehicles entered the town centre amid heavy crowds before troops spread across streets, fired tear gas canisters and forced shop owners to shut their stores.
Witnesses said soldiers rounded up several young men, blindfolded them and gathered them outside a shop while assaulting them.
The state-run Voice of Palestine radio said clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces during the Israeli army’s raid on the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem.
During April, Israeli occupiers carried out 540 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, according to a monthly report by the Palestinian Authority’s Commission against the Wall and Settlements.
The assaults came as the Israeli military continued escalating attacks in the occupied West Bank including killings, arrests and raids on cities and towns involving home searches and destruction of property since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in October 2023.
Attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers in the occupied West Bank have since killed 1,162 Palestinians, injured 12,245 and led to nearly 23,000 arrests, according to official figures.
