Israeli occupation forces arrest 80 Palestinians, mostly from the village of Tall in the West Bank

Ramallah, July 25 (KUNA) -- Israeli occupation forces arrested 80 Palestinians on Saturday, most of them from the village of Tall, located in the southwestern part of Nablus city in the West Bank. The Palestinian Prisoners Club said in a statement that the occupation forces carried out a wide-ranging arrest campaign and field interrogations targeting 80 Palestinians, including released prisoners, and predicted that the number would rise amid continued raids and arrests.

The statement clarified that the arrest campaign focused on the village of Tall, where four youths were killed by the fire of the Israeli army and settlers the previous day. Dozens of Palestinians were arrested and subjected to field interrogations as part of the collective punishment and retaliation policy that the occupation continues to enforce against Palestinians.

It pointed out that most of the recent arrest campaigns were carried out in response to Palestinian citizens’ resistance to settler attacks and their attempts to protect their towns and lands. The statement noted that “the occupation continues to expand the use of field interrogations as a systematic tool of repression, having become a fixed policy practiced across various governorates, where large numbers of citizens are detained for long hours, families are forced to leave their homes, and raids are accompanied by acts of terror, vandalism, and destruction of homes and property, in addition to physical and psychological assaults that precede or accompany arrest operations.”

Special forces disguised as civilians belonging to the occupation raided a hospital in Nablus yesterday, followed by a large military force that arrested two wounded men from the village of Tall and harassed nurses and doctors, causing widespread terror among patients and their companions.

According to statistics from the Prisoners Club, the number of arrest cases in the West Bank has reached 3,600 since the beginning of this year, in addition to thousands of citizens who have been subjected to field interrogations.

Israeli occupation authorities continue to impose strict military measures in the West Bank, particularly in the north, which have hindered Palestinian movement since yesterday. They have also deployed military reinforcements and established additional checkpoints, following decisions by the Israeli cabinet (the Small Cabinet) under the pretext of responding to the killing of an officer and a soldier in Tall. Among the cabinet’s decisions were conducting military operations in the West Bank, erecting more military checkpoints and gates at the entrances of cities and towns, and authorizing the use of “maximum force” against Palestinians.

These developments come as incitement rhetoric escalates among leaders of the far-right and ministers in the occupation government, calling for the erasure of Palestinian villages and the implementation of preemptive operations instead of responding to attacks, while expanding settlements by “legalizing” outposts built on Palestinian lands and establishing new settlements.

Residents of the village of Tall escorted the bodies of the four martyrs early today, after the occupation prevented the funeral by raiding Nablus city and imposing restrictions on the number of participants. Only 30 people were allowed to take part, marking the first time the occupation has imposed such conditions in the city.

It is recalled that the brothers Ibrahim and Jawad Ramadan, and their cousins Farouq and Omran Ramadan, were killed while resisting a settler attack on the outskirts of the village. (End) N.Q./A.B.K.