LONDON: Israeli forces on Thursday sealed off the headquarters of the Zakat Funds Committee, associated with the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, in the town of Jenin in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
They stormed the offices, seized items, and ordered a closure. In a separate incident, they raided a shop in the town’s commercial market, according to news agency Wafa.
In occupied East Jerusalem, authorities issued demolition notices for seven residential homes and four commercial structures in the town of Hizma, located near the Pisgat Zeev settlement.
For months, Hizma, located on a hill between two major roads and close to a military checkpoint, has been subjected to repeated Israeli incursions, raids, arrest campaigns, and the closure of its entrances, Wafa added.
Israeli forces also stormed the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, fired tear gas canisters at the school’s vicinity, and established a checkpoint at the western entrance to the village, obstructing residents’ movement. Last month, a Palestinian child was killed during an attack by settlers on the Al-Mughayyir school.
Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 1967, territories that Palestinians regard as part of their future state. However, the Israeli government has continued its policies of settlement expansion despite international outcry, aiming to establish “de facto sovereignty” and enabling Jewish settlers to pressure Palestinians into giving up their land.
Excluding East Jerusalem, about 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, alongside about 3 million Palestinians.
