RAMALLAH: Israeli security forces on Thursday raided the offices of multiple Palestinian human rights groups in the occupied West Bank, which the state has branded “terrorist organisations”.

The military said soldiers and police officers “closed seven institutions and confiscated property” in the overnight raids.

At the Ramallah offices of human rights group Al Haq, the front door had been welded shut and a Hebrew statement left saying it would remain closed for “security reasons”.

“Any activity in this place jeopardises the security of the area, of the security forces and of public order,” said a statement.

Tel Aviv says struck ‘third country’ during recent Gaza fighting; Palestinian youth shot by troops in West Bank dies of wounds

A priest said an Anglican church on the building’s ground floor was damaged as troops sought to access the Al Haq offices. “The soldiers came into the premises around 3:00am and we started hearing shots and banging on the doors,” Father Fadi Diab of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church said.

Al Haq is one of six Palestinian groups branded terrorist organisations by Israel in October for their alleged links to a leftist group — Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Israel has not publicly shared any evidence of the alleged ties to the PFLP.

Israel struck ‘third country’

Meanwhile, the Israeli Military chief Aviv Kochavi revealed on Thursday that the Israel Defence Forces carried out a strike on an unnamed country during the recent round of fighting in the Gaza Strip earlier this month.

“Ten days ago, the Israel Defence Forces hit with great precision [Islamic Jihad commander] Tayseer Jabari, who is an arch-terrorist,” he said at a local conference, according to a Times of Israel report.

According to reports in the middle Eastern media, at least six Iranian and Lebanese advisers were killed on Aug 7 in Yemen at a camp run by the Houthi rebel group. The reports attributed the blast to a Houthi ballistic missile that exploded while being redeployed, according to The Times of Israel.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian shot by Israeli troops during clashes near a flashpoint holy site in the occupied West Bank died of his wounds on Thursday, Palestinian officials said.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2022