The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- James Richards
Israeli troops staged a rare incursion into Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority government in the occupied West Bank, prompting clashes the Palestinian Ministry of Health said left at least six people wounded.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the operation early Thursday was to demolish the home of Islam Faroukh, who is accused of two November 2022 bombings that killed two Israelis and injured dozens of others in Jerusalem.
Israeli security forces regularly raid Palestinian cities such as Jenin, Nablus and Jericho, but an incursion into Ramallah on this scale is extremely unusual.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported more than 100 Israeli military vehicles were involved in the incursion, calling it an all-night raid.
Among the wounded was a photojournalist for Al-Arabi TV, Moumen Sumrin, who was hit in the head with a rubber bullet. Video from the scene showed he was wearing a press vest at the time. The rubber bullet fractured his skull behind the ear and caused bleeding inside the skull, but does not appear to have caused an injury to the brain, Dr. Fadel Al-Batran said.
He is conscious and in stable condition, the doctor told journalists.
The IDF acknowledged reports that a Palestinian journalist was wounded in the incursion. They did not name Sumrin in their statement.
“An initial inquiry suggests that a Palestinian photojournalist who was in the area of the violent and crowded riots was injured, likely by a rubber bullet. The details of the incident are under review. The IDF makes every effort to prevent any harm to non-combatants during operational activity and to allow freedom of movement and the press,” the statement said.
The Faroukh family apartment was blown up from the inside because it was on the first floor of a four-story building, Wafa said. Faroukh’s parents and four sisters lived there, the official news agency added.
The IDF regularly demolishes the homes of people they accuse of attacks against Israelis as punishment of suspects and their families.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh vowed the home would be rebuilt.
“Every house demolished by the occupation will be rebuilt,” he said Thursday.
The IDF said Israel’s Supreme Court had rejected a petition against demolition of the home.
Faroukh was arrested in December, the IDF said.
The IDF said people threw stones and Molotov cocktails at their forces during the raid and that troops responded with live fire and riot dispersal measures. No IDF troops were injured, the military said.
