Gaza Herald – Israeli forces launched a large-scale raid on the Palestinian town of Biddu, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, detaining dozens of Palestinians, raiding homes and damaging property as military restrictions brought much of the town to a standstill.
The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces were holding at least 53 young Palestinian men at an interrogation and detention centre established inside a home seized during the raid.
Biddu Mayor Nazmi Mansour said large numbers of Israeli military vehicles and soldiers entered the town after midnight and began searching homes one by one, damaging property and subjecting residents to assaults and abuse.
Mansour said Israeli forces had turned several homes into field detention and interrogation centres, where dozens of Palestinians were questioned.
Israeli forces remained deployed throughout the town, while shops, offices and educational institutions were closed, and residents largely remained inside their homes amid fear and uncertainty.
The raid followed a shooting attack near the illegal Israeli settlement of Halamish, also known as Neve Tzuf, northwest of Ramallah, on Sunday. An Israeli was killed in the attack, while Israeli forces later arrested a wounded Palestinian suspected of carrying it out.
Israeli forces had already raided Biddu on Sunday following the shooting, surrounding the Abdullah bin Jaber Mosque while Palestinians were performing afternoon prayers.
The latest operation comes amid an intensified Israeli campaign of raids, arrests and field interrogations across the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Prisoners Society said more than 100 Palestinians had been subjected to field interrogation across the West Bank over two days, particularly in Biddu and Al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah.
Mansour described the situation in Biddu, home to around 11,000 Palestinians, as extremely difficult, with Israeli military operations effectively paralysing daily life in the town.
This report was produced in the Gaza Herald newsroom.
