Spike in Settler Attacks and Israeli Demolitions Sweeps Across West Bank

West Bank, MINA – The occupied West Bank witnessed a sharp escalation of settler violence and Israeli demolitions on Tuesday, with multiple communities targeted in coordinated attacks ranging from arson to physical assault, PIC reported.

According to local media reports, extremist settlers assaulted and kidnapped Palestinian farmer Yousef Shakarneh from the town of Nahalin, west of Bethlehem, while he was plowing his land in the Jabel Banias area.

In southern Bethlehem, settlers raided the village of Al-Marah Rabah, torching a house and two vehicles belonging to resident Rashid Shalalda.

Further south in Masafer Yatta, settlers from the illegal Susiya settlement attacked homes in the Wadi al-Rakhim Bedouin community, hurling stones and Molotov cocktails. They set fire to a vehicle and a tractor, attempted to burn an additional car, and vandalized several homes with graffiti.

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An armed settler also physically assaulted farmers in the Huwara area of Masafer Yatta, attempting to drive them off their property.

In northern Ramallah, settlers launched a stone-throwing attack on passing vehicles near Attara, blocking the main road linking the town to Ramallah City.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces carried out a series of demolitions. In Khilat al-Farra, west of Yatta, the army razed three inhabited homes belonging to members of the Harb family, leaving the residents displaced despite earlier legal appeals to Israeli courts.

In Shuqba, near Ramallah, a commercial structure was demolished by Israeli forces.

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In Silwan, East Jerusalem, the Israeli municipality completed the demolition of the home of Mousa Badran, which he had begun dismantling a month earlier after authorities ordered him to demolish it at his own expense or face heavy fines.

In western Bethlehem, Israeli forces stormed Husan village and demolished a two-story house belonging to Ali Hamamra, forcibly evacuating the neighboring home of his brother in preparation for its demolition.

The latest wave of assaults and demolitions underscores a continuing pattern of settler violence and military pressure across the occupied West Bank, heightening fears of further displacement and instability.[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)

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