The occupation forces arrested 23 Palestinians during raids in the cities and towns of Nablus, Tulkarm, Hebron, and Bethlehem, which included storming and searching homes and assaulting residents, according to the official Palestinian news agency (WAFA).
WAFA reported that Israeli forces in Nablus (north) arrested five Palestinians from the villages of Sebastia, Azmut, Beit Furik, Urif, Qusra, and Tal, after raiding and searching their homes. In Tulkarm (north), the army arrested seven Palestinians after raiding their homes in the towns of Allar and Saida, north of the city.
In Hebron (south), Israeli forces raided several towns and villages in the governorate, arresting four young men after raiding their homes. The army also arrested seven Palestinians from the Bethlehem governorate (south), after raiding and searching their homes.
In Salfit, in the northern West Bank, occupation forces arrested the mayor of Qarawat Bani Hassan, Ibrahim Assi, and a bulldozer driver, and confiscated heavy equipment during a raid on the town. Assi is the fifth mayor to be arrested in the West Bank within one month.
Israeli occupation forces had previously arrested the mayor of the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of the central city of Ramallah, Amin Abu Aliya, on August 23. He was released nine days later, followed by the mayor of the city of Hebron, Tayseer Abu Sneineh, who was arrested on September 2 and transferred to administrative detention (based on a secret file and without trial).
The third is Nafez Hamoudeh, mayor of the village of Al-Qubayba, northwest of Jerusalem, who was arrested on September 10 and released the same day. Then there is Abdel Fattah Abu Ali, mayor of the town of Silat al-Dhahr, south of the city of Jenin (north), who was arrested on September 11 and released the same day.
In a related development, settlers escalated their attacks, stealing a residential tent and agricultural equipment in the northern Jordan Valley. They also attacked a vehicle in the town of Atara, north of Ramallah, smashing its windows and stealing a phone and a sum of money from its owner. Another group assaulted a family in Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, resulting in injuries and bruises, in addition to destroying crops, according to the WAFA news agency.
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Dozens of settlers also stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under Israeli police protection, performing Talmudic rituals and provocative dances as the Jewish holidays approach, amid Palestinian warnings of attempts to impose a new reality on the compound.
During August, settlers committed 431 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, according to data from the Palestinian governmental Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission. The attacks ranged from armed assaults on Palestinian villages, imposing facts on the ground, field executions, vandalizing and bulldozing land, and uprooting trees.
The Authority estimates the number of Israelis in the West Bank settlements at approximately 770,000, "concentrated in 180 settlements and 256 settlement outposts."
Meanwhile, the occupation authorities abruptly closed the Karameh crossing (King Hussein Bridge) to passenger traffic in both directions, causing confusion for hundreds of Palestinians. This comes days after tightening restrictions and preventing buses coming from Jordan from reaching the Palestinian side.
These developments come amid a marked escalation in settler attacks and repressive policies against Palestinians in the West Bank, particularly targeting local leaders, agricultural lands, and pastures, according to Palestinian sources.
In parallel with the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli occupation army escalated its operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, while Israeli settlers intensified their attacks, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,042 Palestinians, the injury of approximately 10,160 others, and the arrest of more than 19,000, according to official Palestinian data.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving 65,208 martyrs and 166,271 wounded, most of them children and women, and a famine that has claimed the lives of 440 Palestinians, including 147 children.
