West Bank: Settlers, Israeli forces storm Nablus, expand raid campaign

Israeli settlers, under the protection of Israeli forces, carried out a series of raids in the Nablus area of the occupied West Bank early on Tuesday.

The settlers arrived at Joseph’s Tomb, a religious site located on the outskirts of Nablus, where they performed Talmudic prayers. The area had been raided by the Israeli army on Monday night, with Palestinian residents forced to leave their homes to make way for the settlers’ incursion, witnesses told The New Arab.

Videos shared online showed Israeli forces raiding the area in military vehicles and armed with heavy weaponry. Soldiers were seen entering residential buildings and ordering Palestinians to leave their homes.

This followed an incident on Monday in which settlers set fire to the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque in the town of Tell, near Nablus, and sprayed offensive graffiti.

Also in the Nablus area, the Israeli army stormed the town of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya at dawn on Tuesday, raiding homes and arresting Palestinians. Soldiers also vandalised property and seized two homes, converting them into military barracks.

One Palestinian woman whose home was raided said Israeli soldiers searched the house, forced family members to sit down, and photographed each of them for identification purposes before entering the kitchen. She said the soldiers consumed food that had been prepared for Suhour, the pre-dawn meal eaten by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli forces, accompanied by bulldozers, entered the town of Beit Liqya, west of Ramallah, in preparation for demolition operations on Tuesday.

The town's mayor, Areej Assi, told The New Arab that Israeli forces began demolishing three houses under construction, as well as a poultry farm.

She said the demolitions were carried out under the pretext of a lack of permits and because the houses were located in Area C, as defined by the Oslo Accords.

Various areas of the West Bank have witnessed frequent demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures, often under the pretext of "building without permits".

According to data from the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israel carried out 59 demolitions in January, affecting 126 Palestinian structures, including 77 inhabited homes. Additionally, 40 demolition orders were issued, most of them in the Hebron governorate.

The Israeli army also arrested several Palestinians on Tuesday during a renewed raid on the town of Ya'bad, south of Jenin. This came a day after a similar incursion into the same town that lasted several hours, continuing a pattern of raids and arrests.

Forces also raided the towns of Anata, Abu Dis and Hizma east of occupied Jerusalem, as well as Turmus Ayya and Silwad in the Ramallah governorate.

Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank come as Palestinian Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club said the Israeli army has arrested more than 100 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of Ramadan, which began a week ago in most Muslim-majority countries.

Israeli operations in the West Bank have intensified in parallel with the war in Gaza, which began in October 2023.