IOF, Settlers Escalate Violence Across West Bank

By Staff, Agencies

"Israeli" occupation forces [IOF] and settler groups continued their assaults across the occupied West Bank on Sunday and Monday, carrying out aggressions against Palestinians and their property.

According to the Palestinian news agency, two young men were injured by "Israeli" rubber-coated bullets shortly after midnight during a raid on the town of Ya’bad, west of Jenin.

The Palestinian Information Center reported that a group of settlers occupied a Palestinian house in al-Khalil’s Old City in the southern West Bank. At the same time, elsewhere, the IOF set fire to a home during a raid on the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah.

In Nablus, IOF launched a detention campaign in the Balata refugee camp, coinciding with ongoing raids in the city’s eastern neighborhoods. They also detained Sheikh Mustafa Shawar, head of the Association of Palestinian Scholars, from his home in al-Khalil.

Additional raids were reported in several areas of al-Khalil, including Surif, Bani Na’im, and Wadi al-Hariyya. The IOF also stormed the town of Qusra and the Old Askar refugee camp near Nablus, as well as the town of Qaffin north of Tulkarm.

In Qalandia refugee camp, north of occupied al-Quds, the IOF fired tear gas canisters along Airport Street as students made their way to school.

The IOF launched a mass detention campaign across the occupied West Bank at dawn Sunday, detaining dozens of Palestinians, including former Arab MK Haneen Zoabi.

The Zoabi was reportedly detained at her home in al-Nasira and forcibly taken for interrogation on charges of “incitement" following a speech she delivered at a conference abroad that "Israeli" authorities labeled as anti-"Israeli". She was released a few hours later.

The brutal "Israeli" raids extended to several West Bank cities and towns. In Nablus, former Palestinian prisoners Qutaiba Azem, Mahmoud Abdel Hadi, and Musab Malitat were detained. In Tulkarm, arrests targeted Mohammed Sultan Mallah and Dr. Mujahid Burhan Shadid.

In the villages surrounding al-Khalil, the IOF carried out raids that led to the detention of Adam Tamer Abu Arqoub, Mustafa al-Tawil, and Mohammed Hussein al-Alami.

Elsewhere, the IOF arrested Qarawa Bani Hassan’s mayor, Ibrahim Assi, in “Salfit”, while also seizing municipal equipment. In Jenin’s town of Jaba, soldiers conducted field interrogations of Palestinian youth during their continued raids.

Meanwhile, the al-Quds Brigades' Jenin Brigade announced on Sunday that it had targeted "Israeli" occupation vehicles with heavy gunfire in the vicinity of the Great Mosque last night.

In a related context, Netanyahu declared on Sunday that he rejects the notion of a Palestinian state and vowed to push back against countries that have recognized Palestinian sovereignty following the UN General Assembly.

Netanyahu's statement comes hours after the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia announced their formal recognition of Palestine, a move seen as a major diplomatic setback for "Israel".

In the West Bank, Palestinians have welcomed the symbolic step but voiced doubts about whether international recognition will translate into practical change without pressure on "Israel".

Analysts warn that Netanyahu's rejection, combined with settlement expansion, risks further eroding the possibility of a negotiated two-state framework.