Palestinian Chief Abbas Urges International Action Following Israeli Raids In Ramallah

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas phoned numerous Arab and international officials to urge them to condemn Israeli “acts of aggression” after IDF troops conducted rare daytime raids in Ramallah. The soldiers were sent to, among other places, the headquarters of the PA-sponsored news site Wafa, where they seized security cameras that may have captured footage of Sunday night’s drive-by shooting outside the Jewish West Bank community of Ofra. The terrorist attack injured seven Israelis and prompted the IDF to launch a manhunt for the perpetrator and an apparent accomplice that is believed to have been driving the car from which shots emanated. While Israeli forces often enter regions of the West Bank under full Palestinian political and security control—known collectively as Area A—operations in broad daylight in major civilian centers are uncommon. During the mission, clashes broke out only a few hundred meters from Abbas’ home, and, overnight, at least three Palestinians reportedly were shot and several more arrested amid intensified fighting. Meanwhile, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat on Twitter denounced the ongoing search as a “deliberate and reckless campaign led by the Israeli government and its army against the people of Palestine.”