Save the Children said on Friday that families in the northern West Bank had been forced to seek shelter inside their homes out of fear of Israeli military violence, which launched an intensified operation earlier this week.
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“The lockdown is keeping children out of school, jeopardizing family incomes and increasing the risk of physical violence and detention of children by Israeli forces,” the children’s rights group said.
Israeli troops cordoned off large parts of northeastern Tubas governorate since Wednesday and launched several major raids on other cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, including Jenin.
Israeli forces have injured dozens of people in the Tubas area since the raids began, while more than 160 others have been detained, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Friday.
Israel has said the operation aims to root out Palestinian armed groups, but residents say the army has carried out indiscriminate attacks against civilians, blocking journalists and ambulances and damaging infrastructure.
An incident captured on camera in Jenin on Thursday, in which Israeli forces killed two unarmed Palestinian men who were attempting to surrender, has also drawn widespread condemnation.
‘Systematic attack’
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have faced an increase in violence by Israeli forces and settlers in the shadow of Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the nearby Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 70,000 people since October 2023.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in attacks by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank since Israel’s war on Gaza began, according to the United Nations.
The northern West Bank has been particularly badly hit, with about 32,000 residents of several refugee camps forced from their homes since January, and Israel blocking them from returning.
The Israeli military has also carried out large-scale domestic demolitions, which human rights groups and UN officials have described as a campaign to forcibly displace Palestinians.
Amir, who works with the Save the Children partner organization in the West Bank, said this week’s raid in the Tubas governorate is “a systematic attack by Israeli forces and a continuation of the Israeli government’s collective punishment policy.”
“This operation is removing children from key services and supplies they rely on and need, including education and health services. Every child in these areas is being denied the right to an education,” the emir said in a statement.
attacks on gaza
Meanwhile, Israel has continued to attack Gaza, despite a United States-brokered ceasefire with Hamas that came into effect last month.
Several Israeli strikes were reported near Khan Yunis and Rafah in southern Gaza on Friday, and a Palestinian was killed by an Israeli drone strike in Bani Suhayla, a town east of Khan Yunis, according to a local medical report.
At least 347 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began on October 10, according to the latest figures from the health ministry in the enclave.
Ismail al-Thawbta, director of Gaza’s government media office, also said on Friday that 535 Israeli violations had been recorded since the ceasefire took effect.
Al-Thawabta said in a statement shared on Telegram that the flow of aid into the war-torn region remains far below what was agreed upon in the ceasefire.
“The (Israeli) occupation has allowed only 9,930 trucks to enter Gaza out of approximately 28,000 requests – a mere 35 percent – thus turning aid into a tool of war used for pressure rather than a legal or humanitarian obligation,” he said.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating at an unprecedented rate, and Israeli aggression has destroyed infrastructure and essential services.”
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