Israeli raids, illegal settler attacks intensify across occupied West Bank
Over 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian figures.
Israeli forces have arrested at least seven more Palestinians and assaulted an elderly man during military raids in the occupied West Bank, a media office said.
In a statement on Sunday, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office said four Palestinians were taken into custody after Israeli forces raided and searched their homes in the town of Tuqu’, southeast of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
Two young boys were also arrested, and an elderly man was assaulted by Israeli forces in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, it added.
Local sources told Anadolu that Israeli forces also detained a young man after raiding and searching his family's home in the village of Deir Nizam, northwest of occupied Ramallah in the central West Bank.
Villages hit by arson and vandalism by settlers
Meanwhile, illegal Israeli settlers rampaged through multiple Palestinian villages overnight Saturday and into Sunday, smashing cars, setting fires and wounding several men in the latest flare-up of violence in the occupied West Bank.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported attacks in at least six communities on Sunday.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said at least three Palestinians in the village of Jalud suffered head wounds from beatings and were hospitalised after confronting settlers, who were also reported injured.
Israel’s military claimed it responded to Israeli civilians carrying out “arson against structures and property, as well as engaging in disturbances in the area,” but did not report any arrests or indicate whether investigations were opened.
WAFA reported attacks in the villages of Silat al Dahr and Fandaqumiya, both near Jenin; in Jalud and Salfit, both south of Nablus; and in the agricultural regions of Masafer Yatta and the Jordan Valley.
Homes and cars were set ablaze, Palestinians were pepper-sprayed, and at least five people were wounded in the overnight assaults, which took place during the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the agency said.