RAMALLAH, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Two Palestinians were injured on Tuesday during clashes with Israeli forces in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, while 40 others were detained across the region, according to Palestinian sources.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its crews treated a 13-year-old teenager and a young man, both shot in the thigh with live ammunition during an Israeli raid on the al-Amari refugee camp south of Ramallah.
Local sources said an Israeli special forces unit entered the camp early Tuesday, deployed in its alleyways, and raided several homes under army protection, sparking clashes.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said Israeli forces stormed Birzeit University, north of Ramallah, and detained five security guards. The forces closed the university's three main gates, confiscated the guards' mobile phones, and deployed soldiers across several buildings.
Following the raid, the university announced in a press statement a temporary suspension of academic and administrative operations to ensure the safety of students and staff.
According to the sources, Israeli forces also entered Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, deploying military vehicles between several faculties and causing disruptions.
In a press statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education condemned the raids as violating international norms protecting educational institutions, and urged immediate actions from regional and international academic bodies.
Israeli authorities also demolished three inhabited homes in Khirbet Khallat al-Farra in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a press statement. The homes belonged to the Harb family, who had filed objections with Israeli courts but received no relief.
Israel often describes its raids in the West Bank as "counter-terrorism operations" targeting individuals associated with Palestinian armed groups.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club said in a press statement that Israeli forces detained at least 40 Palestinians across the West Bank early Tuesday.
The arrests were concentrated in Hebron, Nablus, and Bethlehem, with others reported in Ramallah, Jenin, Salfit, and Qalqilya. Field interrogations were also conducted in several towns, the club said.
Israeli arrest operations remain a daily policy affecting all segments of Palestinian society, it said, adding that about 21,000 Palestinians have been detained in the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023.
Local sources also reported that Israeli settlers on Tuesday attacked the village of al-Marah, south of Bethlehem, setting fire to a house and two vehicles. Similar attacks were reported in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, where settlers torched a vehicle and a tractor and spray-painted racist slogans on homes.
There has been no official Israeli comments on the incidents.
The West Bank has witnessed a sharp escalation of violence since Oct. 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of some 1,000 Palestinians, hundreds of injuries, and the demolition of dozens of homes, according to Palestinian statistics.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War. The settlements it has built there, and its military occupation, are considered illegal under international law. ■
