IOF Launch Mass Arrests in West Bank Amid Escalating Crackdown
According to a report, the raids formed part of an intensifying Israeli crackdown targeting political figures, community leaders, and former prisoners.
Palestine, PUREWILAYAH.COM - Israeli occupation forces (IOF) launched a sweeping arrest campaign across the occupied West Bank at dawn on Sunday, detaining dozens of Palestinians.
Among those briefly arrested was former Arab member of the Knesset, Haneen Zoabi, who was taken from her home in al-Nasira and interrogated on charges of “incitement to terrorism” following a recent speech abroad. She was released several hours later.
According to a report, the raids formed part of an intensifying Israeli crackdown targeting political figures, community leaders, and former prisoners.
Raids Across Multiple Cities and Villages
The overnight raids spanned several cities and towns. In Nablus, former Palestinian prisoners Qutaiba Azem, Mahmoud Abdel Hadi, and Musab Malitat were detained. In Tulkarm, Mohammed Sultan Mallah and Dr. Mujahid Burhan Shadid were arrested.
In the villages surrounding al-Khalil (Hebron), Adam Tamer Abu Arqoub, Mustafa al-Tawil, and Mohammed Hussein al-Alami were taken into custody. Meanwhile in Salfit, IOF forces detained Qarawa Bani Hassan’s mayor, Ibrahim Assi, and seized municipal equipment.
Jenin saw heightened repression, including field interrogations of Palestinian youth in the town of Jaba. The Al-Quds Brigades – Jenin Brigade announced it had targeted IOF vehicles with heavy gunfire near the Great Mosque on Saturday night.
West Bank Under Siege
Beyond arrests, IOF escalated punitive measures across the West Bank. Local reports confirmed at least ten additional arrests in overnight operations, including three youths from Nablus and six residents east of Qalqilya.
In Tarqumiya, west of al-Khalil, Israeli troops arrested a man after he and his family resisted settler incursions on their property. Raids also struck al-Bireh and the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah.
In Jenin’s town of Ya’bad, IOF forces tore up streets, blocked entrances with dirt mounds, and converted the home of Mayor Amjad Attatra into a temporary interrogation site. Residents were detained for hours before being released, while several other homes were ransacked.
The closure of the Dotan checkpoint west of Jenin has effectively cut off the town of Barta’a and its 8,000 residents from the rest of the governorate, amounting to a full blockade.
Exploiting Gaza War to Annex West Bank Land
Analysts warn that the crackdown forms part of a broader Israeli strategy to consolidate control over Palestinian territory.
Writing in The New York Times, Philip H. Gordon, a former U.S. national security adviser, accused Israel of exploiting the world’s focus on Gaza to accelerate annexation of the West Bank.
Gordon pointed to the surge in settler outposts—over 100 established in the past year alone—and to the controversial E1 plan, which would sever eastern al-Quds from surrounding Palestinian cities.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly declared that the project “buries the idea of a Palestinian state,” while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed: “We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us.”
Settler Violence Shielded
The territorial drive is underpinned by escalating settler violence. Palestinians face systematic harassment—burned crops, torched vehicles, stolen livestock, and fatal shootings.
The United Nations has documented over 1,000 settler attacks this year, the highest since records began in 2006.
One emblematic case involved radical settler Yinon Levi, filmed shooting Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen. While Hathaleen’s body was withheld for more than a week, Levi was swiftly released for “lack of evidence.”
U.S. Cover for Annexation
Washington’s stance has emboldened the Israeli government. Unlike previous administrations that at least rhetorically opposed annexation, the current U.S. leadership has downplayed it.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to annexation as “not a final thing,” while Ambassador Mike Huckabee insisted the United States “has never asked Israel not to apply sovereignty” in the West Bank.
This political cover risks entrenching permanent occupation and burying prospects of Palestinian statehood, while further isolating Israel on the international stage. (PW)