Ramadan ends for Palestinians with more arrests by Israel

On the last day of Ramadan, the Israeli army escalated its campaign of arrests and raids against Palestinians in several cities and towns in the West Bank.

It detained 12 Palestinians from the villages of Qarawat Bani Hassan, Jalazun refugee camp, Merka, Sanur, Salem town, and the Balata refugee camp in Nablus.

There were clashes between Palestinian youths and the Israeli armed forces, with five youths sustaining bullet injuries.

An Israeli spokesperson said the army and the Shin Bet security service carried out an engineering survey of the house of the perpetrators of Friday’s Ariel settlement attack, which resulted in the killing of an Israeli security guard.

On Saturday, the Israeli army announced arresting the perpetrators of the attack in a house in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan near Salfit. The weapons used in the attack were seized.

Medical sources said 18 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bullets during Ramadan.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on the US to pressure Israel to stop the policy of collective punishment against Palestinians and urged it to fulfill its obligations and avoid double standards.

The ministry said in a statement that the US administration’s keenness to make efforts to calm the situation must be accompanied by translating its pledges into practical steps, especially its positions regarding equal rights to freedom, dignity, and prosperity for both sides.

The ministry condemned the attacks of the occupying forces and settler militias on Palestinians in Palestinian towns and villages.

Israel is imposing a security closure on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip crossings, starting from May 3 until the evening of May 6 because of Israel’s Independence Day. The Israeli army spokesperson said the decision to end the closure would depend on the security situation on the ground.

The Israeli army said it would hold military maneuvers next week in the city of Wadi Ara to train its forces to deal with confrontations erupting in mixed towns, similar to what happened in May last year.

Israeli sources said the maneuvers would take place on a large scale, noting they were part of the lessons learned from the “Guardian of the Fences” operation launched against Hamas in May last year.

The maneuvers will simulate several scenarios of moving the battle from the Gaza and Lebanon fronts to the areas of the West Bank and Jerusalem, including mixed cities such as Lod, Ramle, Haifa, Jerusalem, and others, in addition to imposing the closure of several main roads and the handling of any confrontations by the special forces.

In a statement on the occasion of Labor Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said the number of workers in Palestine was around 1.3 million — 630,000 in the West Bank, 259,000 in the Gaza Strip, and 145,000 in Israel and the settlements.

It said the number of unemployed Palestinians had increased to 372,000 in 2021, compared to 335,000 in 2020.