Prior to Blinken's arrival... a Palestinian was killed in Hebron and arrests were made across the West Bank. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemns "settler terrorism"

A Palestinian young man died this morning from a bullet wound to the head fired by the occupation soldiers in the city of Hebron in the West Bank, while the Palestinian Prisoners Club announced that the Israeli occupation forces arrested 12 Palestinians in separate areas of the West Bank.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also said that armed Israeli settlers committed, in one night, 120 attacks on Palestinians south of Nablus in the West Bank, condemning what it described as terrorism by armed settlers and demanding that their extremist organizations be included in the terrorist lists.

These developments come as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Cairo at the start of a tour that includes the Palestinian territories and Israel, with the aim of discussing several files, including the escalation in the Palestinian territories, preserving the historical status of Jerusalem and the two-state solution file.

Blinken's visit came as Director of Central Intelligence William Burns continues his talks in the context of a tour during which he held talks with Israeli officials, before moving to Ramallah to meet Palestinian political and security leaders headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

seriousness of aggression

The Palestinian presidency said - in a statement - that Abbas briefed Burns on the seriousness of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, and the importance of urgent intervention to pressure the Israeli occupation government to stop its unilateral measures, and to abide by the signed agreements.

Abbas stressed the necessity of restoring the political horizon on the basis of international legitimacy, in order to achieve security and stability for all in the region, and for the Palestinian people to achieve their freedom and independence in their state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders.

It is noteworthy that two Palestinians were killed yesterday, Sunday, one of them was shot by a security guard of an Israeli settlement in Qalqilya, and the other succumbed to his injury by the Israeli army during its raid on the Jenin refugee camp last Thursday.

The Palestinian territories have witnessed an escalation in tension since the killing of 9 Palestinians in a military operation by the Israeli army in the Jenin refugee camp last Thursday, followed by an armed attack by a Palestinian youth in occupied Jerusalem, which left 7 dead and several injured.

A 13-year-old Palestinian boy also carried out an attack in East Jerusalem on Saturday, wounding two people.

Settler attacks

Following the two operations, a group of settlers assaulted Palestinian citizens in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus in the West Bank, wounding two Palestinians.

Eyewitnesses stated that the settlers attacked houses in the village and burned at least one vehicle, and another group attacked Palestinian vehicles with stones at the entrance to the village.

Yesterday, Sunday, the Israeli occupation government began implementing “retaliatory” decisions against the Palestinians, in response to the two recent operations in occupied Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to reinforce the Israeli police with army companies, to assist them in Jerusalem and areas near the line of contact, and to expand the arming of settlers.

The Israeli army sent military reinforcements to the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, to support the forces deployed there, according to the Israeli government.

Netanyahu said that the retaliatory measures include confiscating the right to housing, residence and citizenship for the families of the perpetrators.

This came during a cabinet meeting, hours after the Israeli mini-ministerial staff took a series of retaliatory decisions against the Palestinians, which included closing the house of the perpetrator of the Jerusalem operation, martyr Khairy Alqam.

On Sunday, the occupation bulldozers demolished the house of the Ratib Shuqairat family in Jabal al-Mukaber in occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of not having a permit.

The occupation forces also stormed the Al-Shu'fat camp in occupied Jerusalem at dawn today and arrested the young man, Youssef Ramzi Taha, according to Palestinian media.

Local media broadcasted scenes showing the intense presence of the occupation forces and their taking of the arrested young man from the camp.

French position

On the other hand, a statement by the French presidency stated that President Emmanuel Macron had a phone call with the Israeli Prime Minister, during which he offered his condolences to the victims of the Jerusalem operation last Friday.

The statement added that Macron expressed his full solidarity and that of France with Israel in its struggle against what he described as terrorism.

The statement indicated that the French president stressed the need for everyone to avoid measures that would fuel the motives for violence, adding that he is ready to contribute to the return of negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Solidarity stand

Arab and American Jewish activists organized a demonstration in New York City to denounce the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.

The demonstrators, in the march that roamed the streets of the "GB Ridge" neighborhood in Brooklyn, chanted slogans of solidarity with the Palestinians, raising the Palestinian flag and pictures of the martyrs of the Jenin camp.

They also called for the occupation to be held accountable for its crimes and to stop supporting and funding Israel.