| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| IDF launches West Bank operation ahead of Ramadan to ‘ensure security and stability’ |
| 2026-02-17 |
| [IsraelTimes] Ahead of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, the Israeli military says it has begun an operation across the West Bank aimed at arresting Palestinians “advancing incitement and terror on social media.” “In preparation for the blessed month of Ramadan, and as a step to ensure security and stability and combat terrorism, IDF troops have in recent days begun an operation across Judea and Samaria against elements advancing incitement and terror on social media networks,” says Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokeswoman, in a statement. She says the operation is expected to continue throughout Ramadan, which begins tomorrow night and ends in late March. “The message is clear: Ramadan is a month of family, community and unity. Do not allow terror organizations to ruin it for you, and do not be drawn after incitement on social media networks,” Waweya says. As was the case last Ramadan, Israel will grant permits to 10,000 West Bank Palestinians — only males aged 55 and older, women at least 50 years old, and children aged 12 and below — to enter Jerusalem for Friday prayers on the Temple Mount during Ramadan. Ahead of Ramadan, police shut East Jerusalem road near security barrier amid infiltration fears [IsraelTimes] Border Police forces have closed off a road next to the West Bank security barrier in a Palestinian neighborhood of East Jerusalem and seized security cameras from residents, in an effort to clamp down on the unlawful entry of Palestinian workers, a spokesman says. Law enforcement came last week with a truck carrying large concrete blocks, placing them along a road directly adjacent to the Israeli side of the barrier, creating a buffer zone where only security forces are permitted to operate. As part of the same operation, Border Police began collecting security cameras in the area. “The forces identified that there were a lot of cameras on poles pointed towards the direction of the barrier, that is to say, observing [the border],” a Border Police spokesman tells The Times of Israel. According to the spokesman, the cameras were used to track the location of security forces, signaling whether the coast is clear for West Bank Palestinians to cross into Jerusalem. The raid last week was launched as part of a larger operation to combat “infiltration, strengthen the barrier and change the security reality in the area,” police say in a statement. “We’re creating another layer of protection in order to reinforce Israeli citizens’ security and allow us to operate with more freedom,” Ch. Supt. Eli Tubul, a Border Police officer involved in the operation, tells the Ynet news site. He says police are shifting gears from a “defensive” mode to an “offensive” one. The Jerusalem District’s recently appointed commander, Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled, accompanied forces during the initial raid last week. Officers mapped the area and towed vehicles within the newly formed buffer zone. In addition, Border Police and IDF soldiers seized weapons and arrested a suspect during a nighttime raid in Kafr Aqab, police announce today. Although it is a part of the Jerusalem municipality, the Palestinian neighborhood lies beyond the West Bank security barrier. The operations come in the leadup to the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which has in the past seen escalations in the existing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians as Muslims from across Israel and the West Bank travel to Jerusalem to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque. 18-year-old Palestinian said shot dead by Israeli forces in West Bank; no comment from IDF [israelTimes] An 18-year-old Palestinian was killed this evening by Israeli forces at the northern entrance to the West Bank city of Qalqilya, according to Palestinian media outlets. He is identified as Muhammad Shreim. The IDF does not immediately comment on the reports. Shreim was reportedly shot and wounded near the security barrier separating Israel from the West Bank. He was transferred in a Red Crescent ambulance to Qalqilya’s Darwish Nazzal governmental hospital, where he was declared dead, according to WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency.
|
| Posted by:trailing wife |