WEST BANK, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued raids and arrest operations across the West Bank on Friday, while also attacking Palestinian worshipers near Bethlehem, amid reports of Palestinian youths throwing stones at a settler vehicle southeast of Nablus.
The IOF arrested former Palestinian prisoner Wael Abdul Hafiz Awadat after raiding his home during an incursion into the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, south of Jericho.
Awadat was released only two months ago after spending 38 months in administrative detention. He is the father of Ibrahim and Raafat Awadat, who were killed and whose bodies have been withheld by Israeli authorities for more than three years. His arrest coincided with the wedding day of his son.
In the Abu Njeim area southeast of Bethlehem, several Palestinians suffered from tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces fired tear gas and stun grenades during a raid.
According to local sources, Palestinians had gathered to perform Friday prayer on land near a tent erected by Israeli settlers in protest against attempts to seize Palestinian land for settlement expansion. Israeli forces later dispersed the gathering, leaving several people suffering from tear gas inhalation.
The sources added that settlers had previously erected the tent on land in Abu Njeim as part of efforts to establish a new settlement outpost in the area.
In a separate incident, Palestinian youths threw stones at a settler vehicle after it entered the outskirts of the village of Osarin, southeast of Nablus, amid continued settler attacks and incursions into Palestinian towns and villages under the protection of Israeli forces.
