BETHLEHEM, February 11, 2016 (WAFA) - Israeli forces Saturday continued their blockade of Nahhalin village, west of Bethlehem, for the fifth consecutive day, purportedly to search for a Palestinian who allegedly carried out a stabbing attack in a nearby settlement, said a local municipal sources.

WAFA reported on Head of Nahhlin Local Council, Ibrahim Shakarneh, as saying that forces continued to impose a tight  siege on the village for five days in a row, seriously impacting the villagers’ daily life.

The ongoing blockade has undermined villagers’ access to health care services, food items and education.

Shakarneh noted that, the village’s sole health center is non-functional; as a result of denying medical staff access into the village. He added that forces have also been preventing the entry of food items into the village, which he stressed, foreshadows a further deterioration in the event the blockade continues.

Forces imposed the blockade last Tuesday after an Israeli settler was stabbed and wounded while jogging outside the nearby settlement of Neve Daniel. The suspected Palestinian attacker reportedly fled in the direction of Nahhalin.

Troops blocked all roads leading to the village with earth mounds. They broke into and ransacked locals houses, as well as occupied and turned three houses into military outposts.

Last week, Israeli forces imposed a blockade on the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya for three consecutive days, following a fatal stabbing and shooting attack that claimed the life of a female soldier and wounded another in Jerusalem.

Palestinians have decried the blockade as tantamount to “collective punishment” against an entire village.

K.F./T.R.