Israeli army steps up West Bank raids, arrests several Palestinians, uproots olive groves

RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL

Israeli forces carried out a wave of raids across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, arresting several Palestinians, demolishing a residential apartment, and bulldozing olive groves, according to local sources and rights groups.

In the town of Qubeiba, northwest of Jerusalem, Israeli troops stormed the home of Mayor Nafez Hamoudeh before detaining him. The arrest came amid a three-day military campaign across towns in the area following a deadly shooting in the Ramot settlement earlier this week that left six Israelis dead.

Residents in Qubeiba, Biddu, and Qatanna said soldiers raided dozens of homes, interrogated locals, and vandalized property. Clashes erupted with youths who threw stones, prompting Israeli forces to respond with live ammunition and tear gas.

Military checkpoints in the area caused severe traffic disruptions as soldiers inspected vehicles and ID cards, witnesses told Anadolu.

In Ramallah, two brothers were detained and their vehicle confiscated during a raid in the town of Kober, while another man was arrested in front of his family in the town of al-Ram.

In the northern West Bank, Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian resident in Jenin, and another in the village of Kafr Qallil near Nablus.

Meanwhile, Israeli bulldozers uprooted dozens of olive trees in the towns of Yamoun and Araqa, west of Jenin.

Ibrahim Khmayseh, mayor of Yamoun, said farmland was razed and agricultural structures destroyed, with Israeli officials warning they planned to clear up to 100 dunums of land.

Separately, troops demolished an apartment in the town of Kafr Abbush near Tulkarem, belonging to two Palestinian brothers imprisoned last year. The military had accused them of assisting in a shooting attack near Qalqilya. Residents said explosives were planted in the upper floor of the three-story building before it was leveled.

The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center condemned the demolitions, calling them a violation of international law.

“Punishing families for alleged actions of relatives amounts to collective punishment, which is strictly prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention,” the group said in a statement.

Since October 2023, when Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, at least 1,020 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.