An Israeli military force stormed the town of Baqa al-Hatab, east of Qalqilya, and blew up the 120-square-meter home of the Abdul Ghani family, according to WAFA.
She noted that the occupation army forced dozens of families to evacuate their homes prior to the bombing, as a massive explosion was heard in the central and northern West Bank as a result of the operation. Forces also stormed the city of Qalqilya from its southern entrance and arrested 12 Palestinians.
Israel accuses the family's son, Sultan Abdel Ghani, of carrying out an attack in the Kedumim settlement, located on the Nablus-Qalqilya road in the West Bank, which resulted in the death of an Israeli soldier in August 2024. Since then, Israel has continued to pursue the perpetrator but has been unable to locate him.
The occupation authorities pursue a policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks against Israeli targets. This move has been widely criticized by human rights and international organizations, which classify this measure as a form of "collective punishment" prohibited under international law.
According to a report issued by the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israel carried out 73 demolitions in April, targeting 152 structures, including 96 inhabited homes, 10 uninhabited ones, and 34 agricultural facilities.
Settler attacks continue
In a related development, extremist Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian vehicle early Thursday morning and attempted to burn down a mosque south of Nablus, in the northern West Bank.
Yousef Diriya, an activist fighting Israeli settlements in the town of Aqraba, south of Nablus, told Anadolu Agency that a group of Israeli settlers stormed the town in the early hours of the morning, set fire to a Palestinian vehicle, and attempted to burn down the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque, with the fire destroying its entrance, according to Diriya.
Diriya explained that the settlers wrote Hebrew slogans on the mosque's outer walls, including "Death to Arabs."
In the village of Birin, east of Hebron, settlers set fire to a house near the village entrance on Wednesday. The head of the village council in Birin, Farid Burqan, told WAFA that the settlers set fire to a Palestinian citizen's house, causing a fire that exploded a gas cylinder, causing extensive damage.
On Thursday, the Palestinian Authority for Wall and Settlement Resistance reported that settler attacks, under the protection of the occupation authorities, have resulted in the displacement of more than 30 Bedouin communities, comprising 323 families, from their homes to other locations. The most recent displacement was the Maghayer al-Deir community, located between the villages of Deir Dibwan and Mikhmas, east of Ramallah. The community consists of 25 families comprising 124 individuals.
The head of the committee, Mu'ayyad Shaaban, told WAFA that "the escalating settler terrorism that has been ongoing for a long time, especially the construction of buildings inside the Maghar al-Deir community and the subsequent terror and intimidation of the community's residents, prompted citizens to leave the community this morning, adding to the series of horrific crimes committed by the occupying state under the guise of genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip."
According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israeli settlers carried out 341 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank during April and attempted to establish 10 settlement outposts.
In parallel with the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation army and settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of at least 969 Palestinians, the injury of approximately 7,000, and the arrest of more than 17,000, according to Palestinian data.
