Israeli settlers rampage in Masafer Yatta, attacking Palestinians

Israeli settlers wreaked havoc in the Masafer Yatta area south of Hebron on Monday, raiding Palestinian Bedouin communities under the protection of the Israeli army.

At least five Palestinians, including women and elderly people, were injured in the assaults with settlers uprooting and destroying around 150 olive saplings in the Ighziwa area.

The heavily armed settlers also vandalised Palestinian properties, including the fence surrounding the farmland that housed the olive saplings.

This comes amid a years-long campaign to expel Palestinians from their land and expand Israeli settlements in the area, which are illegal under international law. The West Bank has witnessed an uptick in settler violence in recent days.

Following the incident and after landowners protested against the settlers' actions, the Israeli army declared the area a "closed military zone", barring Palestinians from accessing their lands for the next 24 hours.

The Israeli authorities also issued an order to seize large parts of the area to pave a road near the Gara'at Hanan settlement, which was illegally established around four years ago on land belonging to the Palestinian Hushiya family.

Several roads connecting the various villages of Masafer Yatta and surrounding areas have also been seized, according to The New Arab's affiliate site Arab48.

Activists also told The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Palestinian landowners fear these excavations are a prelude to the establishment of new settlement structures in the area, under the administrative cover of the Israeli army.

Home demolitions

In other parts of the West Bank, Israeli forces carried out raids across several cities and refugee camps, notably in Balata, Jenin and Nur Shams, demolishing several homes.

On Sunday in Jenin, the Israeli army blew up a house inside the city's refugee camp, Arab48 said, while army bulldozers continued to demolish homes in the camp on Monday, as part of a plan announced by the Israeli army on 9 June to level approximately 95 homes.

On Monday, video footage online showed heavy gunfire in the Jenin's camp -  as Israel's campaign to destroy more homes remains ongoing.

Israeli forces also arrested several Palestinians on Monday, including Fahed al-Salhi, a recently-released former prisoner, after the military raided his home in the Balata refugee camp, on the outskirts of Nablus.

The Israeli military also arrested Sami Batta and Saed al-Hakam after raiding their homes in the village of Baqa al-Hatab, east of Qalqilya, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club.

Additionally, the army tore down properties and carried out incursions in other locations in the West Bank, including agricultural and residential facilities in Khirbet al-Tawil in the village of Aqraba.

In the village of Burin, south of Nablus, settlers attacked the home of the Sufan family and assaulted them. The settlers set up a tent in front of the house to intimidate residents, according to Palestinian media.

Meanwhile, an Israeli settler ran over a young Palestinian man as he was crossing the road near the illegal settlement of Barkan, located near the West Bank city of Salfit.

Rajai Natour al-Dik was transported to the Yasser Arafat Hospital in Salfit, where doctors said his condition was stable after he received necessary treatment, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

Additionally, settlers stormed and set fire to an Israeli army military site on Sunday overnight into Monday, near Ramallah.

According to Israeli media, settlers targeted the commander of the Binyamin Regional Brigade base in the central West Bank, calling him a "traitor".

The officer was among troops attacked on Friday night as they tried to stop settlers from entering a closed military zone near the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik, following a settler attack that killed at least three Palestinians.

According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, some of the settlers at the scene attacked the soldiers, pepper sprayed them and vandalised military vehicles.

High-profile Israeli politicians, including Defence Minister Israel Katz, have condemned the incident and called for an investigation.

Israel’s increased attacks on the West Bank, occupied since 1967, come in parallel with the war in Gaza, where its genocidal military onslaught remains ongoing for over 20 months.

Israeli forces have also killed at least 941 Palestinians in the West Bank since 7 October, 2023, and have arrested over 11,000.

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