Three Palestinians Injured as Israeli Army, Settlers Escalate West Bank Attacks

May 22, 2025 News
The Israeli raid in Jenin continues. (Photo: via social media)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Illegal Israeli Jewish settlers stormed the town of Aqraba in the south of Nablus and attempted to set fire to the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque.

At least three Palestinians were shot and injured, and five others teargassed, as Israeli occupation forces escalated their attacks in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.

A Palestinian youth sustained a gunshot wound to the hand during a raid by the army  on the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

During the incursion, Israeli soldiers smashed the doors of several shops in the center of the town and fired live bullets at civilians near a public parking area, as surveillance drones flew overhead, the report noted.

The agency said the raid comes a day after a large-scale military raid in Qabatiya on Wednesday, during which Israeli bulldozers destroyed infrastructure, including water and electricity networks, particularly in the center of the town and the Abu al-Rub neighborhood.

Child Shot

In the Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah, seven Palestinians were injured, including a child, during a raid by the Israeli occupation forces.

WAFA cited the Palestinian Red Crescent Society as saying that its crews treated two people injured by rubber bullets, one in the chest and the other in the waist of a child. They were both transferred to the hospital.

It added that five other Palestinians, including an elderly man, suffered suffocation from tear gas fired by the occupation forces and were treated on site. The Israeli occupation forces stormed the camp in the early hours of Thursday and destroyed several vehicles parked on the side of the road.

Jenin  Camp ‘Inaccessible’

On Thursday, UNRWA said access to Jenin Camp “has been near-impossible since the Israeli Forces operation ‘Iron Wall’ commenced on 21 January 2025.”

“All Palestine Refugees have been forcibly displaced from the camp, and UNRWA services there have been fully suspended. Safe humanitarian access must be restored, and those displaced must be allowed to return immediately,” said Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs for the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Home Demolition

Israeli army forces blew up the home of the Abdul Ghani family in the town of Baqa al-Hatab, east of Qalqilya, the Al Jazeera Arabic news site reported.

The army accused the family’s son, Sultan Abdul Ghani, of carrying out an attack that killed an Israeli soldier in the settlement of Kedumim in August 2024.

Settler Attack on Mosque

Illegal Israeli Jewish settlers stormed the town of Aqraba in the south of Nablus and set fire to a Palestinian vehicle. They also attempted to set fire to the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque by pouring flammable materials at its entrances. They wrote racist slogans in Hebrew on the walls, including “Death to Arabs,” according to anti-settlement activist Yousef Diriya, reported Al Jazeera.

In a similar incident,  southeast of Hebron, settlers set fire to a Palestinian home in the village of Birin. Israeli forces prevented firefighters from reaching the site, forcing residents to use primitive means to extinguish the fire, according to Al Jazeera.

Forced to Leave

Palestinian families in the Maghayer al-Deir community, located between the towns of Deir Dibwan and Mikhmas, east of Ramallah, were forced to dismantle their homes and forcibly leave the community, due to settler attacks in the area, WAFA reported.

The attacks are being carried out under the protection and cover of Israeli occupation forces, the report added.

The Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights said this followed an escalation in settler attacks on the area, including the closure of pastures, the storming of homes and the violation of their sanctity, the assault on women and children, the seizure of agricultural vehicles and tractors, the theft of livestock, and the establishment of a pastoral colonial outpost among the local homes, the report said.

Several days ago, settlers seized a sheep barn belonging to a family from the Arab al-Malihat tribe in the Maghayer al-Deir area. They began erecting a tent and a metal fence around it, and brought a group of livestock to the pen.

The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission monitored settlers’ attempts to establish 10 new settler outposts during the month of April, predominantly agricultural and pastoral.

Settlers Set Home Alight

Settlers set fire to a house on Wednesday night near the entrance to the village of Birin, southeast of Hebron, WAFA reported.

Fareed Burqan, head of the village council, told WAFA that settlers set fire to the home of Mohammad Azzam Abu Hammad, causing a fire that exploded a gas cylinder. This led to extensive damage.

Burqan added that the family of ten, was forced to leave their home at night in recent months due to settler attacks and threats against families living on the outskirts of the village.

He pointed out that the settlers’ repeated attacks on Palestinian homes, breaking doors and windows and attempting to set them on fire, are intended to displace residents from their homes for the benefit of illegal settlement expansion.

Scores Detained

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) stated that the Israeli occupation forces detained 25 Palestinians from various areas of the West Bank, WAFA reported.

The PPS stated in a statement on Thursday that the detention campaign targeted a number of prisoners released as part of the recent exchange deal.

The organization added that this escalation comes within the context of a systematic policy, a clear and new violation of the deal, and a new message to all released prisoners –  they will remain under attack and persecution.

“Over the past period, the occupation has detained 13 released prisoners, 7 of whom were retained in detention, and six of whom were transferred to administrative detention,” he said.

The number of re-arrests of released prisoners has risen to 19, WAFA reported.

This figure includes those who were arrested and kept in detention by Israel, as well as those who were subsequently released.

(PC, AJA, WAFA)

Related Articles

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*