“Israeli” Settler, Army Violence Escalates Across West Bank

By Staff, Agencies

Violence across the occupied West Bank has sharply intensified, with “Israeli” settlers and occupation forces launching a wave of coordinated attacks marked by arson, land seizures and assaults on civilians and places of worship.

On Wednesday evening, a young Palestinian man suffered a skull fracture after settlers brutally attacked him in the Bedouin community of Arab Al-Rashaida near Ariha. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said he was transferred to hospital in serious condition. In a related incident, settlers pelted Palestinian vehicles with stones in the same area, injuring a woman.

The violence followed the death of 13-year-old Issam Jihad Ma’ala, who was martyred a month after inhaling tear gas fired by “Israeli” occupation forces during olive harvesting near Beita. Witnesses said the soldiers deliberately fired gas grenades at peaceful pickers, with one recalling that “they simply threw gas in every direction.”

On Tuesday, dozens of masked settlers attacked two Palestinian villages, setting fire to vehicles and the Al-Juneidi dairy factory. An employee, Amjad Amer, described how the assault was carefully organized, with different settlers assigned to break in, pour gasoline, and ignite the fires.

Early Thursday, settlers set fire to the Hajjeh Hamideh Mosque between Deir Istiya and Kifl Haris, northwest of Salfit. Locals managed to prevent the mosque from being completely destroyed. The attackers also spray-painted racist slogans against Arabs and Muslims.

The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs condemned the arson as a “flagrant offense against Muslims and their sentiments,” calling it proof of “the barbarity of ‘Israel’s’ racist incitement machine.” It warned that no place of worship is safe amid escalating “Israeli” assaults and urged Islamic and Arab nations to act immediately.

Simultaneously, “Israeli” occupation forces issued a new order to seize over 38 dunams of land in Beit Ummar, north of Al-Khalil [“Hebron”]. According to municipal engineer Halim Abu Maria, the land — rich with grapevines, almonds, and olive trees — belongs to several Palestinian families who depend on it for their livelihoods. Activists said it was the second seizure order in recent weeks.

The occupation forces also carried out a wide-ranging arrest campaign on Thursday, detaining at least 18 Palestinians in Dura, south of Al-Khalil [“Hebron”], and others in Deir Al-Ghusun, Beita and Qaryut. In Al-Khalil’s Old City, soldiers welded shut the doors of several homes belonging to the Idris family near the Ibrahimi Mosque, trapping residents inside.

Entire neighborhoods — including Jaber, Salaymeh and Wad Al-Hussein — have been sealed off from the rest of the city with barbed wire for more than a year, leaving residents isolated and under constant restriction.

The escalating pattern of violence and land confiscation underscores what Palestinian officials describe as a systematic campaign to erase Palestinian presence across the occupied territories.