Widespread Escalation in the West Bank: Injuries, Incursions, and a Military Operation in Salfit

Cities and towns in the occupied West Bank witnessed a new wave of incursions and attacks carried out by Israeli occupation forces and groups of settlers, resulting in injuries, arrests, and property destruction. Field sources reported that a Palestinian citizen was injured by live occupation fire during an incursion into the city of Dura, south of Hebron, where the operation involved extensive firing of gas and sound grenades, raiding commercial shops, and tampering with their contents.

In Ramallah Governorate, settlers launched a violent attack targeting the Al-Ara'ra Bedouin community located between the towns of Rammun and Deir Dibwan, resulting in injuries among local residents. Residents of the area stated that the attackers were heavily armed, while occupation forces intervened to secure the settlers' withdrawal after they carried out their assault on the Bedouin community.

Bethlehem Governorate was not spared from this escalation, as a Palestinian was shot and another sustained bruises following an attack by settlers on citizens' homes in the village of Al-Rashayda. Violent confrontations erupted between residents and settlers who attempted to intimidate families and destroy their private property under military protection.

In the context of the systematic demolition policy, occupation bulldozers demolished a home in the town of Al-Khader, southwest of Bethlehem, under the pretext of building without a permit in areas classified as 'C'. This step comes after a series of notices received by homeowners in the area, as part of attempts to impose urban restrictions on Palestinians.

Regarding field military operations, occupation forces carried out a widespread operation in the city of Salfit that lasted for several hours, including raiding and thoroughly searching the homes of released prisoners. The forces also temporarily forced a number of families to evacuate their homes and converted them into military observation points during the incursion.

In the northern West Bank, occupation forces deployed large military reinforcements, including more than 15 armored vehicles, to the city and camp of Jenin, where the vehicles patrolled streets and residential neighborhoods. These movements caused a state of confusion and severe tension among residents, coinciding with incursions into other villages and towns in the governorate.

In occupied Jerusalem, the occupation authorities forced the family of the elderly Ahmed Khader to self-demolish their home in the town of Sur Baher, to avoid paying exorbitant financial fines. Local sources explained that the family was forced to take this bitter step to avoid a fine of up to 80,000 shekels if occupation mechanisms carried out the demolition operation.

In the eastern Ramallah countryside, specifically in the village of Yabroud, settlers stole a number of sheep after attacking the outskirts of the village and destroying agricultural facilities and pens. The attack was accompanied by indiscriminate gunfire towards citizens who tried to confront the settlers and protect their land and livestock.

In the city of Al-Bireh, occupation forces arrested a young man from the Al-Hashimiya neighborhood after raiding the neighborhood and his home. His identity or where he was taken has not been revealed yet. The Red Crescent also reported that a Palestinian was injured by occupation fire near the Jabara military checkpoint south of Tulkarm, where he was transferred to the hospital for treatment.

Official Palestinian data indicates that the pace of attacks in the West Bank has escalated unprecedentedly since the start of the aggression on the Gaza Strip, with the number of martyrs reaching 1114. Medical and human rights sources also recorded approximately 11,500 injured Palestinians and nearly 22,000 others arrested amid ongoing repression campaigns.

Since the start of the war on Gaza, occupation forces have intensified their attacks in the West Bank through killing, arresting, and displacing to impose new realities on the ground.