West Bank Erupts: Homes Demolished, Raids Intensify, and Settler Attacks Rage Amid Jerusalem Crackdown

A wave of Israeli occupation military operations and settler violence swept across the West Bank at dawn Tuesday, following a shooting operation near Jerusalem, as occupation forces tightened a comprehensive siege on several towns.

The escalation began in Hebron, where Israeli occupation forces blew up the home of prisoner Thabet Masalma in the Badala neighborhood of Beit Awwa. Masalma is accused of participating in a shooting operation at the Al-Khader junction near Bethlehem approximately eight months ago, which led to the death of an Israeli settler and injuries to three others.During the raid, clashes erupted, leading Israeli occupation soldiers to fire live ammunition and toxic tear gas. Two Palestinians were wounded by live fire, and dozens of others suffered from suffocation.
For a second consecutive day, the Israeli enemy also raided several towns south of Jenin, including Qabatiya, Misiliya, al-Jadidah, and Meithalun. Occupation forces stormed and searched homes, vandalizing their contents in the process.

Concurrently, groups of Israeli settlers launched attacks on Palestinian towns. The villages of Burin, Aqraba, and Deir Sharaf in the Nablus district were targeted, with settlers throwing stones at vehicles on main roads.

The crackdown was heavily focused northwest of Jerusalem in the aftermath of Monday’s operation. The occupation army imposed a comprehensive cordon on towns in the area. Occupation forces raided the home of martyr Muhammad Taha in the town of Qatanna. An engineering team conducted a survey and excavated the walls in preparation for its imminent demolition.
The WAFA news agency reported that the occupation forces closed the main entrance to the town of Biddu—a tunnel connecting it to the town of al-Jib—effectively obstructing the movement of approximately 70,000 Palestinians who rely on it as their only main road.