Palestinian Families Caught in Wave of Israeli Arrests across Bethlehem Camp
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Israeli forces carried out a sweeping operation in Bethlehem’s Dheisheh Refugee Camp late Monday, detaining 17 Palestinians in what Palestinian groups decry as a campaign of intimidation and collective punishment targeting families of victims of Israeli violence.
Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank escalated Monday night with a raid in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp, south of Bethlehem.
At least 17 people were abducted during the operation, which Palestinian resistance groups described as part of a systematic campaign to exert pressure on families of those either killed or detained by Israeli forces.
Among those detained were relatives of Omar Manaa, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces during a raid in 2022, and freed prisoners Karam Nasry, Yazan Jaidi, and Saleh Jaidi.
According to eyewitnesses, the detainees were bound with ropes and subjected to interrogation in a nearby building.
Palestinian sources condemned the measures as acts of "terrorizing" the local population.
Residents reported hearing loud sounds of "breaking and shattering" during the operation, which included raids on several homes, including that of freed prisoner Raghad Shamroukh.
The Dheisheh camp remains under siege, with further abductions and raids reported.
Similar raids occurred across other parts of the West Bank, including Dura, near al-Khalil, the Kafr Saba neighborhood in Qalqilya, and the Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus.
The latter incident reportedly led to confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters.
Since October, Israel has significantly escalated its operations in the West Bank and Gaza.
The United Nations reports that at least 732 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank during this period, while over 43,846, predominantly women and children, have died in Gaza amid intensified Israeli aggression.