GAZA, Dec 28 (Agencies): Israeli forces imposed a lockdown on a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, their second day of operations there after a local resident killed two people in Israel.
"The IDF (Israeli army) is operating forcefully against terror hubs in the village of Qabatiya... accompanied by a lockdown and a complete cordon around the locality," Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement published by his office on Saturday.
"We will continue to pursue an uncompromising offensive policy against Palestinian terror," he added.
Bilal Hunaisha, a resident of Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the northern West Bank, said the town "is being subjected to collective punishment by the Israeli occupation".
"As you can see, they blocked the way to my house and I am no longer able to move around," he told AFP, pointing to a pile of rubble obstructing the road.
In the attack on Friday a 34-year-old Palestinian man killed two people in northern Israel.
Meanwhile, a growing number of countries have rejected Israel's recognition of Somaliland, Somalia's breakaway region, as an independent nation, a day after Israel became the first country in over three decades to do so.
The reason behind Israel's move remains unclear, and it is not known whether it expected any concessions in return.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 amid civil conflict. Despite having its own government, currency, and relative stability, it had not received formal recognition from any country until Israel's announcement on Friday.
On Saturday, more than 20 countries, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, along with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, issued a joint statement rejecting Israel's decision, citing "serious repercussions on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, and international stability as a whole." Syria also issued a separate rejection.
