Israeli Occupation Intensifies Aggression in the West Bank Amid Rising Settler Attacks on Palestinians

Ramallah – On Saturday, the Israeli occupation continued its extensive aggression across various areas of the occupied West Bank, marked by incursions, demolitions, and assaults targeting the city of Tulkarem and its camps, as well as the city of Jenin and its camp. This escalation coincides with an increase in settler attacks against Palestinians and their properties, part of a systematic policy aimed at displacement and altering the geographical reality.

In Tulkarem, the Palestinian news agency “Wafa” reported that the Israeli aggression on the city and its camps has entered its 153rd day, accompanied by a suffocating siege, widespread military presence, raids, and gunfire affecting market areas, Nablus Street, and the surroundings of the camps.

In recent weeks, the Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps have witnessed the demolition of dozens of buildings as part of the occupation’s plan to demolish 106 facilities under the pretext of opening roads, leading to the destruction of over 500 homes and the displacement of thousands of Palestinian families.

Israeli forces closed the city entrances, particularly the Anabta checkpoint, and established makeshift barriers, turning Nablus Street into a military outpost after seizing homes in the area.

The incursions extended to the towns of Anabta, Bal’a, Attil, and Deir Ghassoun, accompanied by vehicle searches and a significant presence of reconnaissance aircraft.

In Jenin, the aggression continues for the 159th day, including the explosion of a house in the Jenin camp and widespread demolitions affecting hundreds of homes, resulting in dozens of martyrs and injuries as part of a plan to demolish around 95 houses.

Various areas such as Aqaba, Baqa al-Hatab, Al-Aroub, Al-Fawar, Deir Qaddis, Turmus Ayya, and Kafr Malik experienced separate incursions, accompanied by raids and the encirclement of residential and commercial areas. In the Ramallah governorate, incursions targeted the villages of Deir Qaddis, Turmus Ayya, and Kafr Malik, where Israeli forces raided shops, confiscated surveillance camera recordings, and established military checkpoints on roads between villages, amid recent casualties among martyrs and injured from the occupation forces and settlers.

Simultaneously with military escalation, settlers continued their organized assaults against Palestinian citizens in various regions. They set fire to agricultural lands in the town of Yabrud, east of Ramallah, causing widespread fires that consumed cultivated areas of olive trees.

Settlers also attacked homes in the village of Tell, southwest of Nablus, under the protection of Israeli forces, leading to clashes that involved live gunfire and tear gas. In the northern Jordan Valley, several Palestinian families were forced to dismantle their homes and flee from the Sha’ab Samra area due to escalating settler attacks and ongoing threats, joining previous waves of displacement that have affected dozens of families from other pastoral communities.

In Jericho, settlers invaded the Al-Auja Springs area, grazing their livestock among the homes and chasing a vehicle carrying feed in the Arab Al-Milih area, directing threats at its owner in a clear attempt to terrorize residents and force them to leave.

These assaults come in a context of increasing violence, with the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority documenting over 400 attacks carried out by settlers in May alone, ranging from armed assaults to property destruction, uprooting trees, and land leveling, as part of a policy aimed at undermining Palestinian existence and imposing control over the land through force.

The Israeli occupation forces continue to escalate their actions across various areas of the West Bank, coinciding with the genocidal war being waged against the residents of Gaza.

This genocide has resulted in over 188,000 martyrs and injured, most of whom are children and women, in addition to more than 11,000 missing persons, alongside hundreds of thousands displaced and widespread famine claiming many lives, including children, as well as extensive destruction.