DUBAI, April 28. /TASS/. Israel’s security forces conducted overnight raids in the West Bank, Palestine’s WAFA news agency reported.

Troops entered the towns of Illar and Hizma, as well as the village of Beit Sera, provoking clashes with local residents. The military used sting grenades and tear gas, the news agency noted. It also reported that a 22-year-old Palestinian was arrested in Hizma.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria, followed by a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.