Clashes as Israeli troops surround West Bank home

Israeli troops on Thursday clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians as they closed in on a home in the occupied West Bank in an arrest attempt, the army and Palestinian sources said.

“There is an arrest under way” in the town of Birzeit, north of Ramallah, an army spokeswoman told AFP, without identifying the suspect.

“The suspect is still in the house and there are 150 Palestinians hurling stones. The army is using riot dispersal means” in the ongoing incident, she said.

A Palestinian security source told AFP that security forces were “aware” of the army entering Birzeit, but did not elaborate.

The incident came a day after London-based rights group Amnesty International slammed Israel’s killing of dozens of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank over the past three years, including during military arrest operations.

The report accuses Israel of “war crimes and other serious violations of international law” against Palestinians.

Israel responded by saying the London-based rights group did not take into account the increasing number of attacks on its forces in the past year or seek comment until the eve of publication.