Israeli forces carry out deadly West Bank raids as settlers attack Palestinian farmers

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man and wounded a 15-year-old child in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Friday evening, amid raids on several neighbourhoods in the area.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the deceased as 25-year-old Mohammed Adnan Yousef Salama. It also added details about the wounded child, who it said has suffered shrapnel wounds in his limbs from live bullets.

The killing of Salama brings the death toll in Jenin governorate to 50 since the start of Israel's renewed aggression against the city and its refugee camp beginning 21 January.

Israeli forces have destroyed more than 600 homes in Jenin camp and demolished around 1,000 housing units, causing the displacement of some 22,000 residents.

The Israeli raids that took place on Friday night also resulted in a Palestinian man being injured by live bullets in the village of Tabqa, southwest of Hebron. Israeli forces prevented ambulance crews from reaching the man, who was left to bleed for about an hour before the Red Crescent  were able to transport him to the Dura Government Hospital.

Settler violence

Israeli settlers stormed Khirbet al-Farisiya in the northern Jordan valley, where they sabotaged and cut solar energy cables.

The attack is part of a broader trend of settler violence in the northern Jordan Valley, where settlers have attacked Palestinian homes, intimidated and blocked residents from their properties, stolen livestock, and attacked vehicles.

Since 7 October, 2023, settlers have carried out 7,154 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank, killing at least 34 Palestinians and displacing 33 Bedouin communities, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission. The displaced communities consist of 455 families and 2,853 people.

On Saturday morning, settlers attacked Palestinian farmers in several areas of the West Bank, amid the region's olive harvest season. Hassan Malihat of the Al-Baydar human rights group told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that settlers assaulted and injured farmers as they worked on their lands between the towns of Al-Zawiya and Rafat. Separate attacks on farmers also took place in the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah, and the Jabal Qamas area of Beita, where they carried out raids under the protection of Israeli forces.