Daijiworld Media Network - Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Aug 5: Israeli forces detained 13 Palestinians and carried out raids, demolitions and searches across the occupied West Bank, while Israeli settlers were accused of damaging vital infrastructure and attacking Palestinian property, according to the Wafa news agency.

Among those detained were an 18-year-old summoned to the Huwara military camp, a Birzeit University student in Beit Inan, and several others from Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Bethlehem and Ramallah.

Israeli troops also raided several towns east of Bethlehem and the Dheisheh refugee camp, where journalist Muath Amarneh was briefly detained. Forces searched homes in the Far’a refugee camp near Tubas and fired sound bombs and tear gas near residential areas in al-Lubban Asharqiya, south of Nablus.

In Tubas, Israeli settlers allegedly vandalised a water pipeline supplying 12 Palestinian families in Yarza and ar-Ras al-Ahmar while erecting makeshift arbours nearby. In Ramallah, settlers reportedly attacked a family's vehicle in Dayr Dibwan in an attempt to seize it.

Israeli authorities also issued demolition notices for three tourist facilities in Arrana, east of Jenin, and demolished two classrooms and a toilet block at a school in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.

In southern Bethlehem, Israeli bulldozers levelled agricultural land in Beit Zakariyyah to facilitate the expansion of the nearby Gush Etzion settlement cluster, the report said.