Israeli occupation forces raided several areas in the West Bank on Wednesday night, including Beit Furik east of Nablus, Deir Ibzi' west of Ramallah, and Surda Street in al-Bireh. Israeli forces also arrested a young man in the Old City of Jerusalem, according to Palestinian media and local sources.
Israeli forces also stormed the city of Qalqilya from the eastern entrance, wounding two young men after they were run over by an army vehicle during the raid. Red Crescent crews rushed to the scene to provide first aid and transport them for treatment.
On Tuesday evening, the Israeli occupation forces stormed several areas in the West Bank, raiding the towns of Sebastia and Qusra, north and south of Nablus (north), firing live ammunition at citizens' homes, forcing commercial and tourist shops to close, and raiding homes and closing streets in the town of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem (south).
On Tuesday evening, Israeli occupation forces stormed the mourning house of martyr Awda al-Hathalin in Khirbet Umm al-Khair, southeast of Yatta in the Hebron Governorate, assaulted mourners, and declared the area a closed military zone. Activists reported that soldiers forcibly expelled residents and arrested two foreign activists. Activists and human rights defenders were also prevented from entering the village to participate in the funeral, in an escalation targeting Bedouin communities in Masafer Yatta, according to the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA).
Settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles north of Jericho, in occupied Jerusalem, and in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Eyewitnesses told TRT Arabic that settlers attacked their vehicles on a road near the village of Zawata, which connects villages north of Nablus to the city, and threw stones at their vehicles. Other eyewitnesses said that settlers deployed near the village of Asira ash-Shamaliya and attempted to attack citizens' vehicles.
For its part, the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported that settlers destroyed a nature reserve east of Bethlehem, in the southern West Bank. The report stated that a group of settlers destroyed a nature reserve spanning approximately 100 dunams in the Kisan desert east of Bethlehem and seized solar panels and electric generators owned by Hassan al-Shaalan.
In the northern Jordan Valley, the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights reported that settlers stormed a Palestinian home in Khirbet Ibziq, stealing and vandalizing its contents. They also set fire to a simple agricultural dwelling in the Qa'un area, which was used as a rest house for farmers and workers during the afternoon hours, according to the same source.
The organization added that the burned-down house "was a vital protection point for workers on agricultural land, especially during the summer, when temperatures soar."
Settlers also stormed the Al-Auja waterfall community in the eastern West Bank, in actions the organization described as "provocative and threatening the lives and security of residents."
In the northern West Bank, the organization reported that settlers, accompanied by Israeli army forces, burned agricultural land in the village of Burqa, northwest of Nablus, while the army fired tear gas canisters at residents' homes, without recording any injuries.
The human rights organization stated that "these practices cannot be separated from broader settlement plans aimed at emptying pastoral and agricultural areas of their original owners for the benefit of settlement expansion." It warned that "a recurring wave of violations exacerbates tensions and threatens the security and stability of the residents."
Mu'ayyad Shaaban, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, said, "29 Palestinians have been martyred in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, by extremist settler gunfire, including seven since the beginning of the year."
Earlier on Tuesday, the French Foreign Ministry deemed Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank "terrorist acts" following the murder of a Palestinian activist by an Israeli settler in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Angry demonstrations for Gaza
Dozens of Palestinians participated in a march in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday evening, denouncing Israel's genocidal war against the Gaza Strip and rejecting its policy of starvation and the denial of humanitarian aid.
The march, called for by Palestinian activists, roamed the city's streets. Participants wore black T-shirts bearing slogans denouncing Israeli starvation in Gaza and Arab and international silence.
The march was led by activist and political writer Omar Assaf, who announced on Saturday that he was beginning an open-ended hunger strike in protest against Israel's continued starvation of Gaza, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent.
On Saturday, activists and representatives of popular movements in Ramallah announced the start of an open-ended hunger strike under the slogan "Starve the West Bank for Gaza," a symbolic gesture to support civilians under siege in the Strip.
Activists said in a statement that this step comes "in rejection of the crime of starvation practiced by Israel against the Gaza Strip and the prevention of aid to its residents."
Since the genocide began on October 7, 2023, Israel has been simultaneously committing a starvation crime against Palestinians in Gaza. On March 2, it tightened its measures by closing all crossings to humanitarian, relief, and medical aid, causing famine to spread and reach "catastrophic" levels.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the death toll from famine and malnutrition as of Monday has reached approximately 147 Palestinians, including 88 children, since October 7, 2023.
The US-backed genocide left approximately 206,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
