West Bank Under Siege: Israeli Raids Leave One Martyr, Spread Terror and Arrests

In a series of violent raids across the occupied West Bank, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) killed a young Palestinian, injured several others, and arrested numerous civilians in a widespread campaign of terror.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the martyrdom of 20-year-old Mahdi Ahmed Kamil, who was gunned down by IOF fire during a brutal incursion into the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, on Thursday evening. The raid saw occupation troops deploy infantry units through the town’s streets, storming homes and terrorizing residents, with at least one arrest confirmed.
Mahdi Kamil’s death raises the number of Palestinians martyred in the Jenin Governorate since the ongoing Israeli aggression began on January 11, 2025, to 51.

The Israeli violence continued into Friday, with the Palestinian Red Crescent reporting that a boy was wounded by IOF gunfire in Kafr Aqab, north of Occupied Jerusalem. Palestinian media also documented the shooting of another young man in Qabatiya.
A wave of arrests and home invasions swept the territory. The IOF stormed towns including Al-Shuyukh and Sa’ir in the al-Khalil governorate, while a young man was arrested in the Tayeh hamlet south of Tulkarem. Another incursion was reported in Nablus, with forces entering through the Al-Murabba’a military checkpoint.

In a particularly aggressive operation at the entrance of the town of Atara, north of Ramallah, IOF troops opened fire on a civilian vehicle, injuring and then detaining two young Palestinian men. Following the attack, the IOF sealed the entrances to Atara, imposing a punishing closure on residents.

Further north, in Nablus, a special IOF unit infiltrated the Al-Mukhfieh neighborhood, stormed a home, and opened live fire inside, wounding Ihab Abu Rayala in the leg before taking him prisoner. Youth activist Haitham Al-Kaabi was also arrested after his home was raided and a nearby vehicle was damaged.

This military escalation occurs against a backdrop of intensifying settler attacks, which have terrorized Palestinian communities, especially during the vital olive harvest season.

The escalation comes alongside increasing settler attacks, particularly during the annual olive harvest, a critical source of income for thousands of Palestinian families.

According to official Palestinian data, settlers carried out 7,154 attacks on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank during the two years of the Gaza genocide. These assaults resulted in 33 deaths and the displacement of 33 Bedouin communities.

Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, Israeli occupation forces and settlers have killed at least 1,052 Palestinians in the West Bank, injured around 10,300 others, and arrested more than 20,000, including 1,600 children.