UPDATE - 1 Palestinian killed, 4 injured in West Bank as Israeli forces, illegal settlers escalate attacks

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, CHANGES HEADLINE

By Aysar Alais and Ikram Kouachi

RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL (AA) – One Palestinian was killed and four others were injured Saturday in attacks by Israeli army forces and illegal settlers across the occupied West Bank, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement said a 21-year-old man succumbed to his injuries from Israeli gunfire in Dayr Jarir, a town in eastern Ramallah in the central West Bank on Friday.

The official news agency Wafa said Israeli forces raided a number of Ramallah towns and villages on Saturday, without reporting arrests or casualties.

In the Qalandiya refugee camp north of Jerusalem, a 16-year-old boy was shot by Israeli soldiers, while a 58-year-old man was beaten by illegal settlers in Khirbet Ibziq in the northern Jordan Valley. A 60-year-old man was also shot during a military raid in Tulkarem, local sources and the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

A Palestinian woman was also injured by illegal settlers in Khirbet al-Rakeez in Masafer Yatta village, south of Hebron, and was transferred to hospital for medical attention, according to Osama Makhmara, an anti-settlement activist.

Israeli troops also detained foreign activists for several hours in Khirbet Ibziq before releasing them.

The military conducted raids in Tulkarem, Hebron, Bethlehem, and Ramallah, searching homes and schools, while arresting six Palestinians in Tulkarm, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, illegal settlers, often under army protection, attacked Palestinian homes, farmland, and livestock across Jerusalem, Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho, and the northern Jordan Valley.

In Jib, northeast of Jerusalem, illegal settlers set fire to several homes, causing extensive property damage and spreading fear among residents.

Farmers in Khirbet Ibziq and olive growers in Bethlehem and Hebron were also harassed or threatened, and Bedouin communities near Jericho reported property destruction and invasions.

These attacks form part of a broader pattern of daily raids, arbitrary arrests, and illegal settler violence in the occupied West Bank, often aimed at displacing Palestinians and expanding illegal settlements.

Since the escalation of hostilities in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,021 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured roughly 7,000, and arrested over 19,000.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal in an advisory opinion, urging the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.