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Qalandia raid near Jerusalem
Israeli forces carried out a wide-scale military operation at dawn in the Qalandia refugee camp north of occupied Jerusalem, with residents reporting home invasions, property damage, and makeshift interrogation centers inside houses.
“Israeli forces on Wednesday raided a Palestinian refugee camp next to Jerusalem where tensions have been growing”
Field sources described a comprehensive security cordon imposed on all entrances and exits of the camp, with bulldozers leveling roads and snipers deployed on roofs overlooking crowded alleys.
France 24 reported that Israeli forces raided the camp next to Jerusalem and that eight people were reported injured, while AFP journalists said Israeli soldiers did not allow press or residents to enter.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Wednesday that eight Palestinian people were taken to hospital after suffering injuries, and Mohammad Aslan told AFP that the Israeli army had arrested at least 20 people and took up positions on residents' roofs.
Arrests, beatings, and threats
Residents and camp committee members said the operation included raids on homes, arrests, and the conversion of several houses into military barracks, with Rady Yaqub saying the raid began "around 2:00 a.m. and is still ongoing until this moment."
Yaqub also said Israeli forces were "carrying out extensive home raids, conducting an arrest campaign" and had turned some homes into military positions inside the camp.
The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces prevented prayers from being held in all mosques in the camp, and it reported that occupation forces continued to carry out a wide-scale arrest campaign while military reinforcements arrived.
In a separate account, WAFA said Israeli forces detained Kifah Hamad, 43, after raiding her home, forcibly breaking down the door, assaulting family members, verbally abusing them, restraining her husband, and taking Hamad to an isolated room.
Eviction fears and next steps
Multiple outlets tied the raid to wider fears of eviction, with residents in the Qalandiya area voicing concern that raids and home demolitions could be tied to a strategy of eviction ahead of a 9,000-unit settlement construction plan.
“construction of an illegal 9,000-unit settlement on the grounds of Jerusalem’s former Atarot airport”
France 24 said Netanyahu’s government advanced plans in 2023 for the construction of a 9,000-unit settlement on the grounds of Jerusalem's former Atarot airport, adjacent to Qalandiya, and Palestinian residents have since feared eviction.
The Jerusalem Governorate warned that the broad Israeli military aggression on Qalandiya camp and Kafr Aqab represents an extension of a methodical Israeli policy targeting Palestinian camps, aiming to "cement military control and impose new facts on the ground" serving the occupation project.
In the same reporting, Al Jazeera said the Israeli government coordinator in the occupied West Bank announced the army began a wide-scale military operation in Qalandia, saying it targets what it described as the elimination of terrorist actors and infrastructure and that Israel will not allow Qalandia camp to become a "hotbed of terrorism" or a haven for terrorists.
