Palestinians inspect the damage at the Hasan Qatanani house, after it was demolished by Israeli troops at Askar refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Nablus, 29 October 2023. EFE/EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Israeli army raids in West Bank leave at least 3 Palestinians dead, dozens injured

Jerusalem, Oct 29 (EFE).- At least three Palestinians were killed early Sunday morning during clashes with Israeli forces in different parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) health ministry said.

One person was killed in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus, while another died in the village of Tamun and the third in Beit Rima, northwest of Ramallah.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa indicated that the fatality in Askar camp died in clashes with Israeli soldiers during a raid on Saturday night, which also left 10 people wounded.

The clashes broke out after Israeli uniformed soldiers stormed the camp and demolished the house of Hasan Qatnani, a Palestinian killed in May by Israeli army gunfire in the old town of Nablus.

A Palestinian sits in the damage house of the Hasan Qatnani, after it was demolished by Israeli troops at Askar refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Nablus, 29 October 2023. EFE/EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Qatnani was accused of killing a British-Israeli woman and her two daughters when they were driving in the northern Jordan Valley in April.

In a statement Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Qatnani’s home had been destroyed because he was the perpetrator “of the shooting attack at the Hamra junction where Leah (Lucy), Maya and Rina Dee were killed.”

Israel regularly demolishes the family homes of Palestinians who have perpetrated or are alleged to have carried out terror attacks, a policy which Amnesty International has said amounts to “unlawful collective punishment, which constitute a war crime.”

The statement explained that the IDF arrested 23 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and seized weapons during the various raids on Saturday night.

People bury Palestinian farmer Bilal Muhammad Saleh at Al Sawiya village near the West Bank city of Nablus, 28 October 2023. EFE/EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

In Tamun, another Palestinian was killed at dawn and seven were wounded in clashes with Israeli troops, who entered the village with about 20 vehicles, as well as a bulldozer. Three people were arrested.

Similar clashes took place in Beit Rima, where, in addition to one Palestinian death, 11 others were wounded.

The occupied West Bank has been experiencing its worst spike in violence in two decades since Oct. 7, when Hamas, the Islamist group that governs the Gaza Strip, launched an attack on Israel that left 1,400 dead.

The militants also took more than 200 people hostage.

In retaliation, Israel has been shelling the Palestinian enclave, and on Friday, it launched a ground invasion.

In total, over the past three weeks Israeli attacks have killed some 7,700 Gazans and injured nearly 19,000.

At least 113 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and some 1,900 injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers.

According to the latest Israeli army figures, since Oct. 7 more than 1,030 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank, 700 with alleged links to Hamas. EFE

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