Israel seals off town in occupied West Bank, detains over 40 Palestinians

Israeli forces detained more than 40 young Palestinian men in a raid on the town of Tell, near Nablus in northern occupied West Bank.

Israeli troops seized a house in the town on Saturday and converted it into a field interrogation centre, the official Voice of Palestine radio reported.

It added that Israeli forces were carrying out extensive raids on homes across the town while surrounding it from all directions.

On Friday, Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered a “wide-scale military operation” in Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank following an attack near the illegal Havat Gilad settlement that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others.

According to sources and witnesses, illegal Israeli settlers later attacked several Palestinian communities in the Nablus governorate, setting fire to Palestinian homes and other property.

Four Palestinians were killed on Friday in an attack by illegal settlers and Israeli forces on the town of Tell, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.