“Israel” Launches Multi-Day Aggression on Occupied Al-Khalil, West Bank

By Staff, Agencies

“Israeli” occupation forces began evacuating Palestinians from the al-Jalda area of Al-Khalil early Saturday, after the “Israeli” occupation and the “Shin Bet” announced a military operation in the city that they say will last several days.

Troops stormed Al-Khalil in large numbers and fired flares over the city, while other forces raided Nablus, and other West Bank cities, including Tubas, Aqaba and Qalqilya, carrying out arrests, according to local reports.

Palestinian media reported confrontations between Resistance fighters and occupation forces in Balata camp, east of Nablus.

In a joint statement on Friday night, the “Israeli” occupation army and the “Shin Bet” claimed the operation, led by the so-called “Judea Regional Brigade” with Border Police and the Civil Administration, is “focused and limited to the area from which the ‘terrorists’ operated.”

Residents can only leave through three exits after questioning and security checks by occupation forces, the statement said, and anyone who raises “suspicion” will be taken for interrogation.

It added that forces are also operating at dozens of sites across the West Bank. Troops had already sealed off Al-Khalil and nearby Halhul, set up roadblocks and operated in nearby villages since Friday morning, in prepration for the forced displacement of the governorates' residents.

The operation follows Friday morning’s attack at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint near Al-Khalil, where two Palestinians, identified as Mohammad and Firas Jaaba, both 27 and from Al-Khalil, opened fire on “Israeli” occupation forces checkpoint.

The “Israeli” military announced that two soldiers were killed and three wounded, and that troops shot both gunmen dead after a gunfight of about 20 minutes.

Hamas praised the “heroic operation” but did not claim responsibility, and called on Palestinians in the West Bank to attack “Israeli” soldiers and illegal settlers.

“Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who canceled election events, said that the and first step would be to “demolish” sites in the historic city of Al-Khalil and “completely transform it.”

He ordered Al-Khalil, a city of more than 200,000 people, cordoned off and said he and Security Minister Israel Katz were weighing an operation of a scale not seen since the 1967 war. He vowed to repeat what "Israel" did in the northern West Bank refugee camps. It is worth noting that the attack came four days before Israeli settlers vote on October 27.