DUBAI, May 21. /TASS/. The Israeli army has arrested several Palestinians during raids in the West Bank, the WAFA news agency reported.

According to it, four Palestinians were arrested in the villages of Rujeib, east of Nablus, and al-Jalama, near the city of Jenin. Several others were detained in the town of Sinjil, north of the city of Ramallah.

Clashes between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian resistance forces were also reported in the town of Tubas and in Tarqumiyah, northwest of Hebron.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. 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 declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.