Israel Detains More Than 70 Palestinians After Deadly West Bank Violence/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ The Israeli military detained more than 70 suspects and searched over 300 locations following West Bank violence that killed two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians. Palestinian officials accused Israeli forces of raiding a Nablus hospital and imposing collective punishment, while Israel said those detained included suspected militants and arms traffickers. Separate Israeli strikes killed at least four Palestinians and wounded at least 15 others across Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials.
Quick Look
- Israel said it detained more than 70 people across the occupied West Bank.
- Palestinian officials reported more than 80 arrests.
- Israeli forces searched over 300 locations, according to the military.
- Eleven suspects were detained in the village of Tell.
- Friday’s violence killed two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians.
- A Nablus hospital director said Israeli troops raided the facility and arrested an injured man.
- The Israeli military did not specifically address the hospital allegation.
- Israeli strikes killed at least four people across Gaza on Saturday.
- At least 15 Palestinians were reported wounded in the Gaza strikes.
- Israeli and Palestinian accounts of several events differed.
Deep Look
Israel Conducts Sweeping West Bank Arrests
NABLUS, West Bank — Israel’s military said it detained more than 70 suspects across the occupied West Bank overnight and Saturday following deadly violence that killed two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinian villagers.
Troops remained in Tell, the northern West Bank village at the center of Friday’s confrontation.
The Israeli military said it searched more than 300 locations and detained people it described as Hamas affiliates, arms traffickers, “terrorists” and other suspects.
Palestinian officials reported a larger number of arrests. Amin Shuman, president of the Palestinian Higher Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs, said Israeli forces detained more than 80 Palestinians across the territory.
He described the arrests as “an attempt to impose collective punitive measures and retaliatory policies” against Palestinians following Friday’s events.
Troops Reportedly Raid Nablus Hospital
Palestinians said the Israeli operation included a raid at Nablus Specialty Hospital.
“More than 50 armed soldiers and officers stormed the hospital, terrifying the patients,” hospital director Ghassan Barkat told journalists.
Barkat said troops detained and bound staff members and patients, searched hospital departments and arrested a seriously wounded man identified as Ali Hussein Ali Ramadan. He also alleged that soldiers insulted people inside the facility.
“This should not happen in a healthcare institution,” Barkat said, adding that women and children were present during the raid.
The Israeli military’s statement did not mention the hospital and did not directly address Barkat’s allegations.
Eleven Suspects Detained in Tell
The military said it detained 11 suspects in Tell on Saturday.
The exact circumstances that triggered Friday’s confrontation remained unclear. Israeli news reports and interviews with Palestinian officials indicated that a group of Israeli settlers entered the village and encountered residents who feared they were about to be attacked.
Tell is classified as part of Area B under the 1993 Oslo Accords and is off-limits to Israelis.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli troops shot and killed four Palestinians in the village.
The Israeli military reported that two soldiers were killed, including a settler who served in a local defense squad. Health officials said two other Israelis and four Palestinians were wounded.
Violence Comes Amid Settlement Expansion
Tensions across the West Bank have intensified as Israel’s hard-line government, which includes influential settler leaders and supporters, has expanded settlement construction.
More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. Israel captured both territories in the 1967 Middle East war.
Palestinians seek the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip for a future independent state.
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the occupied territories illegal under international law and views their continued expansion as an obstacle to a negotiated peace. Israel disputes that characterization.
Israeli Strikes Kill Four Across Gaza
Separate Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least four Palestinians and wounded at least 15 others across Gaza, according to Palestinian hospitals and health officials.
In Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike killed a man and a woman, Nasser Hospital said. Their bodies were taken to the hospital.
A strike on a vehicle in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza killed one person and injured two others, according to Shifa Hospital officials.
In Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, a strike on a motorcycle killed the director of the local police force, according to Gaza’s Interior Ministry and Shifa Hospital.
Drone Strike Reported Near Hospital
A strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza wounded three people, according to the Belgian field hospital that treated them.
Israeli drones also struck near Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, wounding 10 people, according to the hospital.
Bystanders carried severely wounded men into the facility amid chaotic scenes.
Israel’s military said it targeted a member of Hamas’ military wing near Al-Aqsa hospital. It did not immediately comment on the other reported strikes.
The Israeli military says its operations respond to shootings targeting its troops and other ceasefire violations by Palestinian militants.
Fragile Gaza Ceasefire Remains Under Pressure
The most intense fighting in Gaza has subsided since a fragile ceasefire took effect in October, following two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli forces have nevertheless conducted repeated airstrikes since the agreement began.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says those strikes have killed at least 1,191 Palestinians. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children constitute most of those killed.
The ministry operates under Gaza’s Hamas-led government. Its detailed casualty records are generally regarded as reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts, although individual figures can remain subject to revision.
Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire took effect.
War’s Death Toll Continues to Mount
The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,317 Palestinians, including those killed following the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The latest raids, arrests and airstrikes demonstrate the continuing instability in both the West Bank and Gaza despite the reduction in large-scale combat.
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