Israeli army detains 7 members of Palestinian family in West Bank

Israeli forces detained seven members of a Palestinian family on Wednesday after they confronted Israeli occupiers who attacked Palestinian-owned farmland in the occupied West Bank, local sources said.

The sources told Anadolu that Israeli occupiers stormed agricultural land in the Wadi al-Mughayyir area south of Hebron and released livestock into fields belonging to Palestinian residents before the landowners confronted them.

Israeli forces later raided the area to protect the occupiers and detained seven members of the Salhab family, the sources added.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the detainees as Hamed Abdul Salam Salhab, his son Homam, brothers Ahmad and Mohammad Salhab, Anas Mahmoud Salhab, and brothers Salah al-Din and Diaa al-Din Mohammad Salhab.

The arrests came months after Israeli authorities demolished the family’s residential building in February, displacing around 40 relatives and forcing them to live in tents.

Palestinian sources said Israeli forces also demolished and confiscated the tents on Tuesday.

Palestinians in villages and Bedouin communities across the occupied West Bank have faced escalating attacks by Israeli occupiers under the protection of Israeli forces amid growing pressure aimed at forcing residents off their land for settlement expansion.

According to the Palestinian Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, Israeli forces and occupiers carried out 1,637 attacks in April alone.

The occupied West Bank has seen escalating violence since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, including killings, arrests, home demolitions and settlement expansion, according to Palestinian officials.

At least 1,155 Palestinians have been killed, about 11,750 injured and nearly 22,000 arrested in the occupied West Bank during that period, according to official Palestinian figures.

*Writing by Tarek Chouiref