Israeli occupiers storm Hebron's Old City, attack Palestinians

• Occupiers attack Palestinian-owned shops in Jerusalem’s Old City under police protection, says media office

Israeli occupiers stormed the Old City of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank on Saturday, attacking Palestinian homes and property.

“Israeli forces and occupiers deployed heavily across the Old City, preventing residents from moving around and detaining several people, in addition to seizing vehicles,” an Anadolu correspondent reported.

Israeli forces also forced shop owners to close their shops, while occupiers climbed onto the roofs of several old houses and spread throughout the Old City.

Earlier in the day, human rights activist Aref Jaber told Anadolu that “a Palestinian man was beaten and abused by the Israeli army in the city center before being released by an Israeli ambulance.”

The official Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that “occupiers assaulted Palestinians and released their livestock into agricultural fields in the Wadi al-Rakhim area south of Hebron, resulting in injuries to a farmer who received on-site medical treatment.”

Separately, dozens of Israeli occupiers attacked Palestinian-owned shops along Al-Wad Street inside the Old City in occupied Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Governorate’s Media Office said in a statement.

The occupiers attacked Palestinian-owned commercial stores and smashed some of the contents, with Israeli police forces protecting them.

The office released footage of occupiers attacking shops while chanting provocative slogans under police protection.

Earlier, the official Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported that Israeli forces and occupiers carried out 1,637 attacks in the West Bank in April, with 540 carried out by occupiers only.

The commission said occupiers attempted to establish 21 new illegal settlement outposts during the month, most of them on agricultural and pastoral sites.

According to the commission, seven of the attempted outposts were in the Hebron area, three in Bethlehem, four in Ramallah and Al-Bireh, five in Nablus, and one each in Jenin and Tubas.

About 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in the occupied West Bank, including around 250,000 in East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian estimates. The settlements are considered illegal under international law.

Since the start of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli forces and occupiers have intensified operations across the West Bank, killing at least 1,155 Palestinians, wounding about 11,750 others, and arresting nearly 22,000 people, according to Palestinian figures.

*Writing by Rasa Evrensel and Mohammad Sio in Istanbul