Israeli forces launched raids and arrests on Wednesday in various parts of the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and demolished a house in the town of Biddu, as settler attacks escalated, injuring Palestinians and a journalist. The developments came on the third anniversary of the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and as the olive-picking season began.
Arrests and raids in West Bank cities
Israeli forces arrested a young man from Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem, after raiding and searching his family home, according to the Palestinian news agency. They also raided the cities of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, as well as the towns of Doha, Nahalin and Za'tara, and the areas of Hindaza, al-Asakra, Rafeida, Rakhma and Husan.
In Jenin, in the northern West Bank, Israeli forces entered the city centre accompanied by a bulldozer and removed commemorative images of those killed. Nablus also saw a raid accompanied by military reinforcements and a wide campaign of raids and arrests, while settlers in the village of al-Mughayyir, north-east of Ramallah, burned a vehicle belonging to a foreign journalist who had come to cover attacks on the village.
In the village of Beit Duqqu, in the Jerusalem district, Israeli forces carried out an arrest campaign and imposed a security cordon. They also demolished, in the town of Biddu, north-west of Jerusalem, the home of prisoner Qadri Samara, who carried out an operation at the Neve Tzuf settlement, north-west of Ramallah, which resulted in the death of a settler. The house and neighbouring homes were evacuated before the demolition, while the army imposed a curfew on the town.
Palestinians injured in settler attacks
Four Palestinians — a man, his wife and two brothers — were injured on Tuesday evening in attacks involving beatings carried out by settlers in the southern and northern West Bank. Palestinian Ayman Shanan said dozens of settlers surrounded the home of his relative, Yusuf Shanan, in the Wadi al-Rakhim area, south of Masafer Yatta in Hebron governorate, and beat him and his wife, leaving them injured.
Shanan said the settlers had erected a tent a few metres from the house, where dozens gathered on Tuesday before surrounding it. He added that the Israeli army arrived at the scene but did not end the siege, while ambulances were unable to reach the injured. He said seven children were inside the house during the incident.
Farmers and journalist injured while picking olives
In the northern West Bank, settlers attacked farmers from the village of Marda and the nearby town of Jamma'in, north of Salfit, while they were picking olives. The attack injured two farmers, who were brothers, according to the Palestinian news agency. Photojournalist Jafar Ashtiyeh, who works for Agence France-Presse, was also beaten by settlers who fired towards him and a colleague as they covered attacks near the town of Aqraba in the northern West Bank.
Ashtiyeh suffered bruising to his head and torso and was taken by a Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance to a hospital in Nablus. Ashtiyeh and his colleague, photographer John Wessels, were near Aqraba when they saw an Israeli soldier detaining a man, while Palestinians from the town were picking olives.
During the incident, an all-terrain vehicle drove towards the journalists on a hill, and one of the settlers riding it fired live ammunition, as a Palestinian fell to the ground. The Palestinian was taken to hospital after being shot in the foot, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. After the shooting, at least six other settlers headed towards the journalists while firing their weapons.
When Ashtiyeh tried to get into the car, two men attacked him and beat him with their weapons. The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, a government body, said in a report issued on Sunday that settlers had carried out 14,742 attacks in the West Bank since October 2023, resulting, it said, in the deaths of 66 Palestinians.
