Israeli forces on Sunday said they had arrested 12 people across the occupied West Bank over the weekend in connection with a spate of deadly attacks inside the Jewish state.
The army and the Shin Bet domestic security agency said they had conducted “joint counterterrorism activities” in several location in the occupied West Bank, including the flashpoint districts of Hebron and Jenin.
“The forces apprehended a total of 12 individuals suspected of involvement in terror activities over the weekend,” they said in a statement.
Among those arrested was an individual suspected of helping his relative Raad Hazem carry out a shooting rampage in a popular Tel Aviv nightlife area earlier this month, which killed three Israelis and wounded more than a dozen others.
A total of 14 people have been killed in four attacks in Israel since March 22, including another shooting spree in Bnei Brak, an Orthodox Jewish city near Tel Aviv.
Some have been carried out by assailants linked to or inspired by the Islamic State group.
Over the same period, 24 Palestinians have been killed across the West Bank, including assailants, as Israel has stepped up operations in response to attacks.
Also Sunday, an Israeli court sentenced a Palestinian to life in prison for murdering a rabbi in a knife attack nearly two years ago, according to Chaim Bleicher, the lawyer for the victim’s family.
The Lod district court also ordered that Khalil Dweikat, a man in his late 40s from the West Bank city of Nablus, compensate the family of Shay Ohayon to the sum of 258,000 shekels ($79,080), as part of a plea bargain.
Dweikat, who had an Israeli work permit, killed Ohayon, a 39-year-old Orthodox Jew, in central Israel on August 26, 2020.
UN chief discusses flare-up with Israeli, Palestinian leaders
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres discussed the ongoing flare-up of tensions around Jerusalem’s holy sites in separate calls Saturday with the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian president.
In statements released after both calls, the UN said Guterres discussed “efforts to lower tensions, end provocations and unilateral steps, and restore calm”.
More than 200 people, mostly Palestinians, have been wounded over the past week in clashes in and around the Al-Aqsa compound, a holy site for both Muslims and Jews.
Palestinians have been outraged by a massive Israeli police deployment and repeated visits by Jews to the holy site, which is governed through a tenuous power-sharing agreement.
Guterres “reiterated that the status quo at the Holy Sites must be upheld and respected,” both statements read.
