Ramallah: Despite ongoing Eid Al-Fitr celebrations, Israeli military forces continued to raid Palestinian towns and detain people on Saturday amid violent clashes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Following Eid, which started on Friday and runs through Sunday, Palestinian observers anticipate an increase in tension and violence.
Palestinian youths and Israeli border guards got into a violent altercation on Saturday after the guards stormed the Shuafat refugee camp north of Jerusalem. The soldiers used tear gas, stun grenades and bullets with rubber coating. There were no reported injuries.
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In the northern West Bank, Israeli forces kept tightening security at military checkpoints close to Nablus. Vehicle inspections and ID checks were conducted on the city's 150,000 residents.
After a dawn raid on his family's home in Beit Rima, northwest of Ramallah, the Israeli army detained a 22-year-old man. Conflicts started, but there were no reported injuries.
Israeli settlers destroyed Palestinian crops on Saturday while being protected by Israeli forces in the town of Yatta, south of Hebron.
The Al-Zuwaidin family's crops were destroyed as a result of settlers releasing their livestock into farmer fields in Masafer Yatta, according to Ratib Al-Jubour, the coordinator of the Popular Committees to Resist the Wall and Settlements in South Hebron.
Unarmed landowners who attempted to remove the livestock got into a fight with armed settlers, but the Israeli army intervened to protect the settlers.
Khader Adnan, a 44-year-old Palestinian prisoner from Arraba, south of Jenin, has now been on a hunger strike for 77 days. The Ramla Prison Clinic is where he is being detained.
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According to a statement from The Prisoners' Club, Adnan is critically ill and might not survive. Since his arrest on February 5 after Israeli forces stormed his home in Arraba, close to Jenin in the northern West Bank, Adnan has refused to accept any medical assistance and has been on a hunger strike.
Adnan was previously imprisoned for nearly eight years. He has participated in six hunger strikes and been detained 12 times. His longest is currently.
Unsettlingly, according to Palestinian sources, Israeli security forces stormed Al-Rahma Chapel in Al-Aqsa Mosque, cutting off the electricity and damaging its doors.
Palestinian expert on Israeli affairs Ismat Nassour told Arab News that the US, Jordan, and Egypt's efforts to broker a peace deal with Israel depended on the Israeli military ceasing its incursions into Palestinian cities in the West Bank throughout the month of Ramadan.
He stated that he anticipated the Israeli army to resume military operations in the West Bank, including the continuation of arrests and home demolitions as well as the addition of more military checkpoints. He mentioned that in preparation for a spike in violence in the West Bank, the Israeli army had sent three extra battalions there on Friday.
An escalation was necessary to win over the public given the Israeli government's precarious political position, according to Mansour.
In addition, he predicted that tensions in East Jerusalem and the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque would rise as a result of Israeli provocations, which would incite violent Palestinian responses and keep the situation simmering.
Mansour asserted that Israel could only win a limited victory in the West Bank by enhancing its standing among Israelis. He added that the government is concerned about an escalation with Iran, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, or Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.
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A prominent Fatah figure from East Jerusalem, Ahmed Ghunaim, told Arab News that there are many signs that the Israeli government is trying to export its internal crisis to the Palestinian side in order to trigger a quick resurgence of violence.
"The Israelis tried to demonise the month of Ramadan as a reason for the escalation of violence, but the Israeli occupation, not the month of Ramadan, is the main reason behind the violence," he continued.