Homes Occupied, Entrances Sealed
Israeli forces continued their military operation in Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, on Wednesday, amid a heavy deployment, closed camp entrances, home raids, and reported injuries and arrests. A correspondent reported that Israeli forces besieged the camp, occupied many homes inside it, and sealed several of its entrances, coinciding with intensive military deployment and continued incursions. Local sources told the Palestinian news agency that Israeli forces have been raiding the camp since dawn, backed by dozens of military vehicles and bulldozers, deploying across its neighborhoods and carrying out extensive raid-and-search operations targeting numerous homes.
Tear Gas on Journalists, a Family Forced Out
Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters and sound bombs toward journalists and positioned themselves on the camp’s main street. At the same time, the Jerusalem governorate said Israeli forces closed several camp entrances with earth mounds, restricting residents’ movement. During the operation, forces raided the popular committee’s headquarters, removed several residents from their homes, forced one family to evacuate their house, and prevented dawn prayers from being held in the camp’s mosques, according to local sources. The Palestinian Red Crescent said a 53-year-old man was injured after being beaten by Israeli forces inside the camp. Palestinian media platforms documented footage showing Israeli forces deployed throughout Qalandiya camp, taking control of a number of homes and converting some of them into military positions amid continued raid and search operations.
Part of a Broader Pattern, Amid Arab-Islamic Condemnation.
The escalation comes days after Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said he had instructed the military to occupy a new refugee camp in the West Bank, before reports quoted army commanders denying receiving formal orders, while confirming that military plans remained ready to storm other Palestinian camps. In parallel, an Arab-Islamic ministerial meeting in support of Jerusalem and its holy sites, held Wednesday in Amman, condemned Israeli policies and measures in Jerusalem, announcing a joint push to rally international opposition to what it called “illegitimate measures.”
The meeting’s closing statement affirmed that East Jerusalem is part of occupied Palestinian territory with no Israeli sovereignty over it, rejecting any measures aimed at changing the city’s legal and demographic status, and condemning violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque and Christian holy sites. Participants called on the international community and the UN Security Council to act immediately to halt what they described as Israel’s illegitimate measures in occupied Jerusalem and its holy sites, stating that these measures form part of a systematic Israeli policy to entrench control over Jerusalem and Palestinian territory through settlement expansion, land annexation, economic strangulation, targeting Palestinian national institutions, escalating settler violence, and targeting UNRWA — alongside continued violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and a worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, undermining the two-state solution and prospects for peace.