2 Palestinian women injured as Israeli raids, occupier attacks escalate across West Bank

Two Palestinian women were injured Wednesday by live-fire shrapnel during an Israeli military raid on a home in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, while Israeli forces raided several other Palestinian communities and occupiers carried out attacks and damaged property across the occupied West Bank, according to local sources and witnesses. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams treated a 70-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl who were injured by live-fire shrapnel during the raid and transferred them to a hospital. Meanwhile, Israeli occupiers continued to besiege three Palestinian homes in Qusra for an 11th consecutive day under Israeli military protection, according to Qusra Mayor Abdul Azim al-Wadi. Al-Wadi told Anadolu that occupiers remained deployed around the homes in the Ras al-Ain area, while Israeli forces maintained a presence and declared the area a “military zone.” He said the three families “are facing difficult conditions because of the continued siege and restrictions on their movement.” The Israeli army has also taken control of one of the three homes and converted it into a military post, while occupiers remained around the other besieged houses, according to the mayor. On Monday, al-Wadi accused the Israeli army of complicity in the occupiers’ attacks, saying it could arrest or remove the settlers if it wanted to, “but it is a partner in the operation.” Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli forces raided four Palestinian towns and villages with military vehicles, according to local sources. In the village of al-Mughayyir in the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate, Israeli forces arrested Palestinian youth Adham Mufid Zaghloul, the sources said. Israeli forces also raided Kafr Ein, northwest of Ramallah. Occupiers, meanwhile, entered the Gharraba area northwest of Sinjil and carried out provocative acts against Palestinians. They also released their livestock onto Palestinian-owned land near the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, while others, protected by Israeli forces, entered the Jabal al-Qarqaa area between al-Mazra'a al-Sharqiya and Sinjil. In Nablus, sheep belonging to a Palestinian farmer died after drinking from a well near Mount Ebal. A local source told Anadolu that occupiers had poisoned the water. Israeli troops also raided the Karm Nimr area of Beita, south of Nablus. Later Wednesday, occupiers entered the town of Beita and a family meeting hall belonging to the al-Sharafa family, where they performed what the official Palestinian news agency Wafa described as provocative dances. Israeli forces later informed the family that the hall would be closed for two days. In the nearby village of Duma, southeast of Nablus, occupiers destroyed more than 20 mature olive trees, local sources told Anadolu. The trees were estimated to be between 20 and 25 years old. Israeli forces also raided Beit Furik, east of Nablus, and searched several homes, while troops raided the town of Saer, north of Hebron, and patrolled its streets. In Hebron, an occupier reportedly pointed a weapon at Palestinian children in the Khillet al-Natsh area south of the governorate. Israeli forces also raided the al-Arroub refugee camp north of Hebron, triggering clashes with Palestinian youths. In occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces closed the Qalandia checkpoint north of the city to vehicles, causing severe traffic congestion. Vehicles remained backed up for hours at the Qalandia and Jaba checkpoints amid tightened Israeli restrictions. The latest incidents come amid a continued escalation in occupier attacks and Israeli military operations across the occupied West Bank since the outbreak of the Gaza genocide in October 2023, alongside expanded illegal settlement activity, road construction and restrictions on Palestinian movement. Around 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 156 illegal settlements and 360 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and carry out acts of aggression aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians. The UN warned on Aug. 12 that occupier violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank had reached unprecedented levels.