In the West Bank, IDF troops conduct raids in Bayt Rima nr. Ramallah, confiscating 1 car and sparking minor clashes with stonethrowing Palestinian youths; there are no serious injuries. They also arrest 2 Palestinians during a raid nr. Hebron. A Palestinian construction worker is injured when IDF troops open fire on him as he attempts to climb Israel’s separation wall nr. Bethlehem (he fractures both his feet falling off the wall). In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 1 Palestinian during a late-night raid in Issawiyya. (MNA, WAFA 7/8; PCHR 7/13)
The Gaza Electricity Distribution Company announces that Egyptian power lines feeding s. Gaza were damaged during the 7/7 clashes in n. Sinai, exacerbating the ongoing electricity crisis across the region. Meanwhile, the Hamas-run energy authority in Gaza reports that the PA recently “stopped all the financial transaction through Palestinian banks to Egypt to buy fuel,” which halts fuel delivery from Egypt on 7/6. A PA spokesperson does not comment on the energy authority’s report of blocked payments except to say, “the main reason for the worsening situation in Gaza is Hamas as they rejected [PA pres. Abbas’s] initiative . . . to end the split [between Palestinian factions].” (AFP, MNA 7/8)