Israeli army withdraws from Qalandia refugee camp after raid injures 51 Palestinians
More than 60 Palestinians detained or questioned during nearly two-day military operation
The Israeli army withdrew from the Qalandia refugee camp north of occupied East Jerusalem late Thursday after a nearly two-day military raid that left 51 Palestinians injured, Palestinian authorities said.
The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces pulled out after an operation involving widespread raids, searches and detentions. Several homes and other buildings were seized and turned into detention and field interrogation centres during the operation, it added.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the number of Palestinians injured since the raid began early Wednesday had risen to 51. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said earlier Thursday that Israeli forces had detained or subjected more than 60 Palestinians, including women and children, to field interrogation.
The Israeli army launched the large-scale operation early Wednesday in Qalandia and the nearby town of Kafr Aqab, deploying dozens of military vehicles, bulldozers and drones. It claimed the operation targeted armed individuals, “hostile infrastructure” and weapons possession and trafficking.
The Jerusalem Governorate said residents endured difficult humanitarian conditions during the raid.
Elsewhere north of occupied Jerusalem, Israeli authorities issued a military order to clear vegetation and uproot olive trees across about 2.5 dunums (0.6 acres) of Palestinian land in the town of Jaba to expand the illegal settlement road Route 437.
Read More: 1.4 million Palestinians face acute food insecurity in Gaza as medicine shortages deepen
Israeli forces carry out near-daily military raids across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers across the occupied West Bank have intensified, killing more than 1,182 Palestinians, injuring around 13,000 and leading to the arrest of nearly 24,000 others, according to official Palestinian figures.