Israel detains mother of West Bank shooter

Israeli forces on Tuesday arrested the mother of a suspected Palestinian shooter, who shot dead two Israelis in the occupied West Bank this weekend, according to local residents.

An Israeli military force raided Shawbka neighborhood in the city of Tulkarem and detained Wafaa Naalwa, 45, from her home, the residents said.

“Israeli soldiers searched Naalwa’s family and questioned her family members before withdrawing from the area,” one of the residents said.

On Monday, Israeli forces briefly arrested the sister of the suspected shooter for questioning.

On Sunday, two Israelis were killed and another was injured in a shooting attack in an industrial area near the settlement of Barkan in the central West Bank.

The shooter had fled the scene unscathed with Israeli media saying the attacker was a former Palestinian worker from Tulkarem.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces rounded up seven Palestinians in overnight raids across the West Bank.

The individuals were arrested for “suspected involvement in popular terrorist activities”, the army said in a statement, without elaborating on the nature of these activities.

The Israeli army frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the occupied West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.

According to Palestinian figures, some 6,500 Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli detention facilities, including scores of women and hundreds of minors.