Israeli forces early Monday stormed the Duheisha refugee camp south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank during an arrest raid, locals said. Locals told Ma'an that snipers deployed on rooftops as groups of soldiers surrounded the home of 24-year-old Salih Jueidi, a resident of the camp. Jueidi's home was searched before Israeli soldiers detained him. Locals across the camp told Ma'an that they came under heavy tear gas fire as well as live ammunition when military vehicles and undercover forces that raided the camp remained in the area following the arrest. Several residents of Duheisha were evacuated to the hospital following tear gas inhalation, and military forces stayed in the camp as rush hour began, obstructing travel for students and workers leaving for their morning commute. Locals said that exams for several students began this week, noting that Israeli military activity often increases during finals. An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that a Palestinian was detained south of Bethlehem for "involvement in illegal activity." Twelve others were also detained in the occupied West Bank, including two Palestinians from Tulkarem and one west of Nablus who were suspected for being Hamas operatives, the spokesperson said Six were detained from the Hebron district and three from the Ramallah area, the spokesperson added. While Israeli military forces routinely carry out search and arrest raids -- a weekly average of more than 80 since the start of 2015 -- increased numbers of Palestinians have been detained since violence increased in October and continued through December. Over 2000 Palestinians were detained in October and November, and hundreds more have been arrested this month, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer. Many of those detained have been suspected for participation in demonstrations against Israeli military forces, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society told Ma'an earlier this month. At the beginning of December, Duheisha refugee camp resident Malik Akram Shahin, 19, was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a predawn arrest raid in the camp, the second camp resident to be killed since October. The left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine later said that Shahin had been one of its supporters. The group said in a statement that he fell "during fierce clashes with Israeli troops who raided the camp to detain young men affiliated to the PFLP." The statement added: "The ongoing ugly crimes by the Israeli occupation against our young men who lead clashes at the front line won't prevent them from escalating the clashes with Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers."
