IOF, settlers ramp up aggression across West Bank
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Palestinian towns witnessed overnight raids, arrests, and home occupations as Israeli forces and settlers expanded assaults across the occupied West Bank.
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Israeli occupation forces stand next to an armored vehicle during a military raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, August 27, 2025. (AP)
Israeli occupation forces and settler groups continued their assaults across the occupied West Bank on Sunday and Monday, carrying out aggressions against Palestinians and their property.
According to the Palestinian news agency, two young men were injured by Israeli rubber-coated bullets shortly after midnight during a raid on the town of Ya’bad, west of Jenin.
The Palestinian Information Center reported that a group of settlers occupied a Palestinian house in al-Khalil’s Old City in the southern West Bank. At the same time, elsewhere, Israeli occupation forces set fire to a home during a raid on the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah.
Armed Israeli settlers forcibly seize a Palestinian home in Hebron, the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/pWki47Vd1x
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) September 21, 2025
In Nablus, IOF launched a detention campaign in the Balata refugee camp, coinciding with ongoing raids in the city’s eastern neighborhoods. They also detained Sheikh Mustafa Shawar, head of the Association of Palestinian Scholars, from his home in al-Khalil.
Breaking | Israeli occupation forces abduct multiple Palestinians after storming their homes in Halhul, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/PSHTj3y6DO
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 21, 2025
Additional raids were reported in several areas of al-Khalil, including Surif, Bani Na’im, and Wadi al-Hariyya. Israeli occupation forces also stormed the town of Qusra and the Old Askar refugee camp near Nablus, as well as the town of Qaffin north of Tulkarm.
In Qalandia refugee camp, north of occupied al-Quds, Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters along Airport Street as students made their way to school.
IOF launch mass detention in West Bank amid escalating aggression
Israeli occupation forces launched a mass detention campaign across the occupied West Bank at dawn Sunday, detaining dozens of Palestinians, including former Arab MK Haneen Zoabi.
Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported that Zoabi was detained at her home in al-Nasira and forcibly taken for interrogation on charges of “incitement to terrorism,” following a speech she delivered at a conference abroad that Israeli authorities labeled as anti-Israeli. She was released a few hours later.
The brutal Israeli raids extended to several West Bank cities and towns. In Nablus, former Palestinian prisoners Qutaiba Azem, Mahmoud Abdel Hadi, and Musab Malitat were detained. In Tulkarm, arrests targeted Mohammed Sultan Mallah and Dr. Mujahid Burhan Shadid.
In the villages surrounding al-Khalil, Israeli occupation forces carried out raids that led to the detention of Adam Tamer Abu Arqoub, Mustafa al-Tawil, and Mohammed Hussein al-Alami.
Elsewhere, the IOF arrested Qarawa Bani Hassan’s mayor, Ibrahim Assi, in Salfit, while also seizing municipal equipment. In Jenin’s town of Jaba, soldiers conducted field interrogations of Palestinian youth during their continued raids.
Meanwhile, the al-Quds Brigades' Jenin Brigade announced on Sunday that it had targeted Israeli occupation vehicles with heavy gunfire in the vicinity of the Great Mosque last night.
Netanyahu rejects Palestinian state as recognition expands
In a related context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that he rejects the notion of a Palestinian state and vowed to push back against countries that have recognized Palestinian sovereignty following the UN General Assembly.
"There will be no Palestinian state. I will give an answer to the latest attempt to impose a terrorist state in the very heart of our country upon my return from the United States. I have a clear message to those leaders who recognized the Palestinian state after the horrific October 7 massacre: you are giving terrorism a huge reward," Netanyahu said in a video message.
He added that "Israel" would continue expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, reinforcing his government's long-standing opposition to Palestinian statehood initiatives.
Netanyahu's statement comes hours after the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia announced their formal recognition of Palestine, a move seen as a major diplomatic setback for "Israel."
In the West Bank, Palestinians have welcomed the symbolic step but voiced doubts about whether international recognition will translate into practical change without pressure on "Israel."
Analysts warn that Netanyahu's rejection, combined with settlement expansion, risks further eroding the possibility of a negotiated two-state framework.
Read more: 'Israel’s' deliberate policies drive West Bank economy toward collapse
