At least one killed in Israeli drone strike on house in occupied West Bank

About 20 Palestinians were arrested in weekend raids

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At least one Palestinian was killed and four others were injured in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a house in the Nour Shams camp in the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian media said on Sunday.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Organisation said that it was dealing with two casualties as a result of the bombing of the house, noting that its crews were unable to enter the property due to the fire the bombing caused.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that four injured people, including two seriously, arrived at Tulkarem Governmental Hospital as a result of the bombing.

Drone strikes – and air strikes in general – used to be a rarity in the occupied West Bank, but have spiked since the Israel-Gaza war erupted on October 7, amid near constant Israeli raids in occupied towns.

Israeliforces also arrested 20 Palestinians in raids carried out over the weekend in Hebron, Tulkarm, Nablus, Ramallah, and occupied East Jerusalem. During the raids, Israeli forces damaged Palestinian homes, severely beat detainees, and threatened their families, the report said.

Among those arrested were three teenagers aged between 15 and 16 from the town of Beit Rima, in Ramallah. Clashes reportedly broke out between them and Israeli forces – which stormed the town and fired live ammunition.

The latest arrests bring the total number in the occupied West Bank to 9,450 since October 7, Wafa added.

Amid the arrests carried out, intense clashes took place between the Israeli army and Hamas fighters in Shujayea of Gaza city, under way since Thursday.

The weekend raids come several days after Israel’s ultranationalist finance minister, who is also the leader of a pro-settler party, said the government would promote West Bank settlements as a punishment against the Palestinian Authority, which governs the occupied territory, after several countries recognised Palestine as a state.

Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday said he was working towards revoking “various approvals and benefits” for senior Palestinian officials and approving new settlement buildings.

The European Union condemned the minister’s announcement that five outposts will be legalised in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The Gulf Cooperation Council also expressed its strong condemnation and rejection of the expansion of settlements.

The settlements and outposts are communities built on land occupied by Israel since the 1967 war. They are illegal under international law.

Despite seeking punitive measures to take against the Palestinian Authority, Mr Smotrich on Sunday extended a waiver allowing co-operation between Israel’s banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank.

The waiver, which was due to expire at the end of the month, allows Israeli banks to process payments and salaries in shekels. Without its extension, the Palestinian economy – which depends on this transaction process – would have suffered.

The Palestinian Authority has suffered from a massive hole in its finances since Israel began withholding tax revenue it collects on the PA’s behalf following the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war.

This crisis has decimated entire sectors in the West Bank, including healthcare, limiting the care that hospitals can provide and ultimately jeopardising Palestinian lives.