West Bank death toll rises to 316 since October 7 (Reuters)

4 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli occupation army during the past 24 hours, in different areas of the occupied West Bank.

Medical sources said that the Palestinian youth Mahmoud Othman and Renny were martyred in the town of Al-Eizariya, east of occupied Jerusalem, while Amr Abu Hussein was killed when the occupation army shot him for allegedly carrying out a vehicular attack at the entrance to Wadi Al-Shajna, east of Dura in Hebron, in the southern West Bank.

Israel's Channel 12 reported that four settlers were wounded in a vehicular attack south of Hebron in the West Bank, and said Israeli soldiers shot and killed the perpetrator.

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the occupation forces prevented Palestinian ambulances and medical teams from advancing towards the site of the incident, and fired at an ambulance belonging to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

This comes hours after a Palestinian youth from the town of Jabal Mukaber in occupied Jerusalem was killed after carrying out a stabbing attack that injured two Israelis in the "Border Police" police unit, at the Mazmoriya checkpoint near Bethlehem on Thursday evening.

Earlier, another young man from Yatta village, south of Hebron, was killed by Israeli gunfire at the tunnel checkpoint west of Bethlehem.

The Israeli ambulance announces that four settlers were injured in a vehicular attack at the settlement of Atnael, south of Hebron in the West Bank. What's in the details?#الأخبار #حرب_غزة pic.twitter.com/NKwzPDHtjK

— Al Jazeera (@AJArabic) December 29, 2023

Injuries and suffocation

On Friday evening, a number of citizens were suffocated during clashes that erupted north of Hebron.

Security sources said that clashes erupted with the Israeli occupation forces on Halhul Bridge, after they closed the northern entrance to Hebron.

The sources added that the occupation forces fired tear gas at the site towards citizens and their vehicles, which led to the suffocation of a number of them, and the outbreak of clashes with the boys in the area.

According to security sources, the Israeli occupation forces tightened their military measures at the northern entrances to Jericho, erecting two checkpoints on them, stopping citizens' vehicles and checking the cards of their passengers.

The Israeli occupation forces had earlier opened checkpoints surrounding the city, especially the southern and eastern areas, where the entrances to the city witnessed the normal movement of citizens' vehicles.

In addition, the Israeli occupation forces raided the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, and deployed heavily on the main roads amid power cuts in large parts of the city.

In Nablus, the occupying forces raided the eastern area of the city, and Palestinian media reported that a large force of the occupation army, accompanied by a military bulldozer, stormed the Balata refugee camp, positioned itself in several streets in the city and the vicinity of the camp, and deployed its snipers on the roofs of many buildings.

Clashes erupted between Palestinians and the Israeli occupying forces following their incursion into the town of Araba, south of Jenin.

Assault on worshipers

Dozens of worshipers were also suffocated on Friday afternoon after the Israeli occupation forces attacked them in the Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem.

According to local sources, the occupation forces suppressed worshipers who were unable to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque, due to the strict military measures imposed on them, as they performed prayers in the Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood adjacent to the Old City of Jerusalem.

The occupying forces fired rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sprayed worshippers with chemical wastewater, resulting in dozens of suffocation.

Only 12,<> worshippers were able to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform prayers, as the occupation forces began since the early hours of the morning, imposing strict military measures by closing the gates of the mosque, and preventing hundreds of citizens from entering the mosque.

The Israeli occupation forces assault worshipers in Wad Al-Joz neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/Ifhh3ZYJik

— Shehab News Agency (@ShehabAgency) December 29, 2023

Rising number of detainees

These developments come at a time when the Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club announced – in a joint statement – the high number of detainees from the West Bank in Israeli prisons since the occupation began its aggression on Gaza.

The two institutions said in the statement that after the arrest of 6 citizens from Al-Fara'a camp near the city of Tubas, the number of detainees in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, rises to about 4846,<> Palestinians.

The number of martyrs in the occupied West Bank has risen to 316 since the seventh of last October, and the number of prisoners has risen to 4820,<> Palestinians.

This toll does not include arrests carried out by Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip, according to the same source.

The Israeli army carries out daily raids and raids on villages and towns in the West Bank and Jerusalem, accompanied by confrontations, arrests and firing bullets and tear gas canisters, coinciding with its aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Source : Al Jazeera + Agencies