Over 100 Israeli occupiers attack town near Ramallah: Mayor

More than 100 Israeli occupiers attacked the outskirts of Sinjil, north of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, on Friday, while residents and popular guard committees confronted them, according to local officials.

"More than 100 occupiers attacked the outskirts of the town, opened fire toward residents and activists, and burned agricultural crops," Sinjil Mayor Moataz Tawafsheh told Anadolu.

He said the occupiers attempted to advance into the town, but residents and popular guard committees confronted them to prevent attacks on the population.

Israeli army forces simultaneously tightened the siege on the town and closed its entrances during the occupier attack, Tawafsheh said.

"The attack was part of a series of occupier terrorism against Sinjil," the mayor said, adding that residents and guard committees continue to confront occupiers to prevent them from storming the town and attacking residents.

In a separate development, Israeli occupation forces shot a Palestinian young man and arrested another in Jerusalem, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Israeli forces also stormed the entrance to Deir Jarir village, northeast of Ramallah, WAFA said, without providing details on arrests or casualties.

Elsewhere, Israeli occupiers destroyed a water network and stole two water tanks in the village of Al-Minya, southeast of Bethlehem, according to WAFA.

According to a July 6 report by the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, occupiers carried out 3,488 attacks during the first half of the year, including raids on Palestinian villages, arson attacks on homes, shootings, land seizures and the establishment of settlement outposts. The attacks killed 17 Palestinians.

Around 750,000 occupiers live in 141 illegal settlements and 224 settlement outposts across the occupied West Bank, including about 250,000 in occupied East Jerusalem.

The occupied West Bank has witnessed escalating attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers since October 2023. According to official Palestinian figures, the attacks have killed 1,181 Palestinians, injured nearly 13,000 others, and led to the arrest of around 24,000 Palestinians.