Israeli army, illegal settlers step up attacks against Palestinians in occupied West Bank

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – The Israeli army and illegal settlers stepped up their attacks on Thursday against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank.

According to witnesses, army forces raided Baqa al-Hatab village in eastern Qalqilya city and demolished a family home of a Palestinian accused by Israel of taking part in an attack that left an Israeli soldier killed in August 2024.

Israel maintains a policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians accused of attacking Israeli targets, a practice widely condemned as a form of collective punishment prohibited under international law, as it often displaces entire families.

Meanwhile, a group of illegal settlers set fire to a Palestinian-owned vehicle and tried to set a mosque ablaze near the towns of Osarin and Aqraba near Nablus city.

Local sources said illegal settlers painted racist graffiti on the mosque's walls.

In parallel, hundreds of illegal settlers raided the Joseph tomb site in eastern Nablus city under heavy protection from army forces, and performed Talmudic rituals at the site, security sources said.

The Israeli army deployed snipers atop buildings near the Joseph tomb site, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Venerated by both Muslims (Palestinians) and Jews (Israelis); Joseph's tomb has long been a flashpoint for clashes between the Palestinians and Israeli settlers.

Jews believe the site to be the burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph. Muslims, however, challenge this claim, saying an Islamic cleric – Sheikh Yussef Dawiqat – was buried at the site two centuries ago.

Since the start of the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, nearly 970 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.