Israel watches closely as West Bank seethes
Increasing skirmishes have Israel reportedly considering a large-scale invasion of the northern West Bank.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinians are waking up almost every day to news of violence and armed clashes across the West Bank.
The armed clashes, which for months had been limited to the Jenin refugee camp and the old city of Nablus, have now expanded to other areas of the West Bank, including the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, al-Faraa camp near Tubas, the village of Rujib near Nablus, the village of Silwad near Ramallah and the towns of Burqin and Qabatiya near Jenin.
On Sept. 4, a group of Palestinians opened fire at a bus carrying Israeli soldiers near the settlement of Hamra in the Jordan Valley, wounding seven of them, in what the Israeli media described as a “qualitative shift” in the Palestinian operations targeting Israelis in the West Bank. The perpetrators of the attack were immediately arrested.
On the evening of the same day, Palestinian militants opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint near Ramallah, wounding four soldiers.
