Israel demolishes buildings in southern West Bank

Ramallah functions as the economic and political capital of the Palestinian Authority, although the Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as their eventual capital.

The IDF announced Monday that it has partially closed off Ramallah, following a shooting attack near there Sunday morning. It was part of four months of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks targeting Israelis.

Later in the day, it appeared that enforcement of the measure varied between locations. Most of the attacks have been stabbings, though shootings have also occurred. The Palestinian Prisoners Association noted that this is one of the largest one night arrest campaigns Israel has ever conducted.

“A number of meetings have been called off because Palestinian interlocutors have not been able to get to the meeting site”.

Palestinians queueing to leave Ramallah said they considered the measure collective punishment for Sunday’s attack.

One woman in her 30s waiting in a taxi gave her name as Aline and said she was missing a court date in Nablus in the northern West Bank.

‘Any worldwide company like Airbnb that profits from the occupation and from our blood must be held accountable and brought to justice, ‘ said Husam Zomlot, a Palestinian ambassador at-large and former adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “Only the people are harmed”.

The wave of violence has claimed the lives of 26 Israelis and one American student.

Palestinians were angered at the effect that three temporary checkpoints that were used to control traffic entering Ramallah in addition to the two permanent checkpoints in the area had on local businesses and families.

Airbnb has come under fire for listing dozens of properties in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are generally viewed as illegal by the global community. Salit is near Israeli territory, not far from Tel Aviv.

Israel has struggled to contain a wave of near-daily Palestinian attacks, which began in Jerusalem in mid-September and later spread to the West Bank and cities across Israel. “Our ancestors who were martyred before us we will join you, inshallah”.