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Raids across West Bank
Israeli forces detained seven Palestinians, including two children, during military raids across the governorates of Nablus, Tubas and Bethlehem on Saturday, with the detentions spanning the town of Tammun, the villages of Orif, Einabus and Burqa, and the village of Wadi Fukin.
“detained seven Palestinians, including two children, during military raids across the governorates of Nablus, Tubas and Bethlehem”
In the Tubas governorate, Israeli forces detained a 16-year-old child after raiding and searching his family’s home in Tammun, while in the Bethlehem governorate Israeli forces detained a child during a raid on Wadi Fukin and another Palestinian at the Container military checkpoint northeast of the city.
The raids also included storming dozens of homes in the town of ’Asira ash Shamaliya north of Nablus, where sources said Israeli forces rounded up scores of residents inside one house that they turned into a field interrogation center.
In parallel, Israeli settlers assaulted a Palestinian man and his wife in the village of Beitillu northwest of Ramallah, and Israeli forces on Friday night shot and injured a Palestinian minor in Beit Fajjar south of Bethlehem, hitting a 15-year-old minor in the foot.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh described the activity as unfolding “in every direction” across the occupied West Bank, reporting that Israeli military jeeps were roaming constantly through Ramallah on Saturday.
Identities, injuries, and arrests
Palestinian security sources said Israeli troops detained seven Palestinians, including two 16-year-old boys, during overnight raids across the occupied West Bank, with the early hours of Saturday bringing raids on Asira Al Shamaliya north of Nablus and detentions and questioning of residents.
The National identified those detained in Nablus governorate as Yusuf Shehadeh from Orif, Mohammad Arandeh and Jawad Rashdan from Einabus, and Abdul Karim Al Dsouqi from Burqa, and it said Israeli forces also detained 16-year-old Ubaida Al Haroub during a raid on Wadi Fukin west of Bethlehem.
In the Tubas governorate, The National said a second 16-year-old was held after his family's home in Tammun was searched, and it identified another detainee as Mohammad Rashaida detained at the Container military checkpoint in the north-east of Bethlehem governorate.
Al Jazeera reported that the raids that produced Saturday’s detentions spanned three governorates at once, with forces searching a family home in Tammun and detaining a 16-year-old, picking up four Palestinians in predawn raids on Urif, Einabus and Burqa, and detaining a second 16-year-old in Wadi Fukin.
Al Jazeera also said Israeli military jeeps were roaming constantly through Ramallah on Saturday, and it reported that soldiers used tear gas inside a supermarket in the city.
Escalation since Gaza war
The National linked the West Bank violence to the Gaza war, saying violence has increased sharply since the start of the Gaza war and that Israel’s military has been carrying out attacks and imposing restrictions on movement.
“Violence in the West Bank has increased sharply since the start of the Gaza war”
It also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has significantly increased the rate of settlement construction, and it reported that Netanyahu’s office said he held a security consultation on the West Bank violence.
Al Jazeera added that the level of everyday disruption is difficult to separate from settlement expansion driving it, and it said settlers erected another illegal outpost this week, the 12th such construction in the past seven days alone.
In a separate account, Anadolu Ajansı said a 15-year-old boy was shot in the foot during the raid on Beit Fajar south of Bethlehem, after Israeli forces positioned themselves in the Triangle area and opened live fire.
Anadolu Ajansı also framed the broader context by saying that since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, assaults by the Israeli army and settlers in the West Bank have escalated, resulting, according to official Palestinian figures, in the deaths of more than 1,182 Palestinians and about 13,000 injured.
