Israeli soldiers injured several Palestinians including children, as they raided areas in the occupied West Bank on July 6, as illegal settlers continued their attacks, local sources said.
The incident is part of a growing pattern in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces regularly carry out raids against Palestinians while settlers escalate attacks on homes, farms, and communities.
According to the official news agency Wafa, Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters during a raid in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem. Several residents suffered temporary asphyxiation from the Israeli tear gas.
Two Palestinians were detained during the raid, while a third was arrested in Hebron in the southern West Bank.
Israeli forces also arrested two more Palestinians in Nablus, three in Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, and three others in the central city of Ramallah.
Jordan Valley sees intensifying attacks
Meanwhile, illegal Israeli settlers forced Palestinian shepherds to abandon their grazing lands in the northern Jordan Valley, northeast of the occupied West Bank, local activist Aref Daraghmeh told Wafa.
The Palestinian Jordan Valley spans approximately 1.6 million dunams (about 400,000 acres), home to around 13,000 illegal Israeli settlers across 38 illegal settlements, while about 65,000 Palestinians live in 34 communities.
Israel controls more than 80 percent of the Jordan Valley, designating it a security and economic buffer zone, and aims to maintain its military presence there in any final peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Daraghmeh said the area has seen a significant rise in settler attacks targeting Palestinians and their property.
Rather than intervening to protect Palestinians from settler aggression, the Israeli military often facilitates or shields it, according to compounding reports.
Palestinians say they will not establish their independent state without the Jordan Valley, which comprises about 30 percent of the occupied West Bank and is rich in natural resources.
ICJ ruling ignored as illegal settlers tighten grip
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Under international law, all Israeli settlements in occupied territories are considered illegal.
According to Israeli government data, illegal settlers staged 414 attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the first half of this year, up 30 percent from 2024.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 989 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
