Wednesday, January 6, 2016

In the West Bank, Israeli forces demolish 5 bedouin Palestinian residential structures in the E1 area nr. Jerusalem, displacing 26 bedouins; begin leveling land s. of Bethlehem in preparation for the construction of a military tower. The IDF conducts late-night raids and house searches in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem, Tulkarm r.c., and 1 village each nr. Salfit and Ramallah, arresting 10 Palestinians; patrols in 4 villages and al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli police raid the International Comm. of the Red Cross office overnight, arresting 6 Palestinian activists who have been staging a sit-in in protest of the Israeli orders to deport 2 of them. Israeli forces demolish 2 Palestinian homes in Silwan; arrest a Palestinian at Haram al-Sharif; arrest 2 Palestinians during late-night raids in Jabal Mukabir and al-‘Izzariya. In Israel, Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian bedouin mosque in a so-called unrecognized village in the Negev. (HA, MNA 1/6; PCHR, WAFA 1/7; HA, MNA 1/8; PCHR 1/14)

The Israeli press reports that DM Moshe Ya’alon has approved, in recent weeks, the Gush Etzion settlement’s request to incorporate a nearby property into its municipality. (HA, JP, TOI 1/6)