UPDATE – Elderly Palestinian detained by Israeli army in occupied West Bank after settler assault

UPDATES WITH JOURNALIST’S ARREST, CHANGES DECK

By Qais Abu Samra and Betul Yilmaz

HEBRON, Palestine / ISTANBUL (AA) – An elderly Palestinian was arrested by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank after being assaulted by illegal settlers, a rights group said on Thursday.

Saeed Amour, 60, a resident of the al-Rakiz area in Massafer Yatta in southern Hebron, was detained by Israeli forces after illegal settlers assaulted him, the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights said in a statement.

Amour, a prominent community figure known for defending land rights, has faced repeated settler attacks and threats in recent months. He lost his leg to settler gunfire in April 2025, the rights group said.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces detained Palestinian journalist Osayd Amarna in the southern city of Bethlehem, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a statement.

The new arrest brought the number of Palestinian journalists detained by the Israeli army to 55, including 50 held since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.

The NGO said the Israeli arrests aim “to silence the journalists and cover up its crimes.”

Israel is currently holding around 10,800 Palestinians in its prisons, including about 450 children, 50 women, and 3,629 administrative detainees, according to official Palestinian figures. These numbers exclude thousands of cases of enforced disappearance of detainees from Gaza.

At least 1,016 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal, demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.