Israel detains 70 Palestinians in West Bank amid settler rampage

Israeli forces have detained at least 70 Palestinians in the Qalqilya governorate of the West Bank on Monday amid violent settler rampages across the occupied territory.

Israeli forces stormed the town of Azzun in the northwest of the West Bank, with armoured units entering the town and detaining mostly young Palestinian men after raiding residential buildings, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Eyewitnesses said Israeli troops forced them to lie on the ground, subjecting them to interrogation, humiliation, and abuse.

Videos  shared online showed Israeli forces leading the detained Palestinians in a line through the town at gunpoint; however, the footage could not be independently verified by The New Arab.

The reason for the detention of the young men and their fate remains unknown, however it has prompted some to fear that Israel is detaining more Palestinians to make up for freeing around 90 on Sunday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

“What they’re doing in Qalqiya tonight is horrendous. They imposed a curfew, shut down all stores and shops, stormed a mosque, gathered all the men,” one X user posted on the social media platform.

“They better release everyone and not be collecting more prisoners because the ones already in prison are being released,” the user added.

Most of the Palestinian prisoners used by Israel in the hostage exchange deal with Hamas in Gaza are held under administrative detention, meaning they have not been charged or tried for any crime.

There are fears that the Israeli raids could be the prelude to a larger Israeli military operation in the West Bank, with Israeli army  chief Herzi Halevi saying the army “must be prepared” for “major operations” in the occupied territory.

The raid on Azzun comes amid a major outbreak of settler violence in and around other towns in Qalqiya and other parts of the West Bank.

Israeli settlers reportedly set vehicles and properties on fire under the protection of Israeli forces while also injuring several Palestinians in the towns of Jinasfut and Funduq.

Jalal Bashir, the head of the Jinasfut village council, told Wafa that a group of Israeli settlers stormed the village of Jinasfut, setting fire to three homes, a nursery, and a workshop. Additionally, the settlers torched several vehicles belonging to Palestinians.

One Palestinian suffered a head injury while attempting to defend his home, while several others required medical attention due to tear gas inhalation.

In total, the Palestinian Red Crescent report that 21 Palestinians were injured during the raid. 

In the southern West Bank, Israeli settlers raided a Palestinian home in the Masafer Yatta area, while dozens of settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles with stones south of Hebron, causing significant damage to several of them.

Footage shared online by Yesh Din, which monitors violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, shows Palestinian cars set ablaze by settlers, with fire also raging through a building.

“Ceasefire? Not in the West Bank. Tonight, dozens of settlers are attacking Palestinian villages across the West Bank,” the group wrote on X.

“In the village of Sinjil – Settlers set fire to two homes and at least four vehicles…In the village of Ein Siniya – Settlers attacked and set fire to homes,” the group added.

The settler violence follows the signing of an executive order by the newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump reversing US sanctions on settlers implicated in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The sanctions were originally imposed by the Biden Administration in response to surging violence since Israel’s war on Gaza erupted on 7 October 2023. 

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 825 Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of the war in Gaza, though violence had been increasing in the illegally occupied territory before that.