RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL 

Israeli forces mounted a series of raids across the occupied West Bank on Thursday, arresting dozens of Palestinians, wounding a young man near Jerusalem, and issuing demolition orders for homes and a school in the south, local officials and witnesses said. 

In Qubeiba, northwest of Jerusalem, troops detained Mayor Nafez Hamouda after storming his home, before releasing him hours later. His arrest came as part of a four-day military campaign in nearby villages following Monday’s shooting attack that killed six Israelis.

Residents in Biddu and Qatanna reported widespread house raids, interrogations and property damage, while soldiers forced shops to close and tightened checks at nearby checkpoints, creating heavy traffic congestion. Journalists said their equipment was confiscated to prevent coverage.

Palestinian authorities said a young man was shot in the leg near a separation barrier between al-Ram and Beit Hanina. Witnesses said he was among laborers trying to cross into Israel for work, and that soldiers blocked ambulances from reaching him.

In the northern Jenin district, bulldozers destroyed vegetable crops and uprooted olive trees on farmland in Burqin. Dozens of illegal settlers, accompanied by Israeli troops, also entered the site of the former Sanur settlement, evacuated in 2005, but recently approved by the Israeli Cabinet for re-establishment.

Further south, officials in the Hebron area said the army distributed demolition notices for five makeshift homes in the village of Khirbet Zanuta, east of Yatta. A separate order targeted al-Zuwaidin Secondary School, which serves around 120 students in the Masafer Yatta region.

According to the Palestinian government’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israel carried out 57 demolitions across the West Bank in August, affecting 125 structures, including 39 homes, 52 agricultural facilities and 20 sources of livelihood.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, at least 1,020 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the occupied 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. It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.