HEBRON / RAMALLAH – Tensions soared across the occupied West Bank on Monday as armed Israeli settlers, backed by military forces, launched violent raids on Palestinian communities in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron.

According to local sources, five Palestinians, including women and elderly individuals, were injured in assaults by settlers who also uprooted around 150 olive saplings and vandalized farmland fences in the Ighziwa area.

The settlers operated under Israeli army protection, as authorities issued new orders to seize large swaths of land—including routes between villages—near the illegal Gara’at Hanan settlement, built on land belonging to the Hushiya family.

Palestinian residents fear the land seizures signal a new wave of settlement expansion, amid what human rights groups call a coordinated campaign to displace Palestinian communities from Masafer Yatta.

Following local protests, the Israeli army declared the area a “closed military zone,” barring Palestinian access to their own land for 24 hours.

🔥 Violence Spreads Across the West Bank

Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli forces conducted aggressive raids in Jenin, Balata, and Nur Shams refugee camps, demolishing several homes and engaging in live fire.

On Sunday, the military blew up a home in Jenin Camp, with more demolitions continuing Monday, in line with a recently announced plan to level nearly 100 homes in the area.

Video footage from Jenin showed intense gunfire, while bulldozers razed residential structures. The demolitions are part of a broader campaign launched by Israel on June 9.

Israeli forces also made numerous arrests on Monday:

• Fahed al-Salhi, a former prisoner, was re-arrested during a raid on his home in Balata Camp near Nablus.

• Sami Batta and Saed al-Hakam were detained in Baqa al-Hatab village, east of Qalqilya.

Meanwhile, in Khirbet al-Tawil, near Aqraba, the army demolished agricultural and residential facilities, further destabilizing rural Palestinian communities.

In Burin, near Nablus, Israeli settlers attacked the Sufan family, vandalizing their property and setting up a tent directly in front of their home—a tactic used to intimidate and forcibly displace families.

🚗 Palestinian Man Run Over by Settler

In Salfit, a Palestinian man, Rajai Natour al-Dik, was injured after being intentionally run over by a settler near the illegal Barkan settlement. He was treated at Yasser Arafat Hospital, where doctors confirmed his condition as stable.

🔥 Settlers Turn on Israeli Army

In a rare twist, Israeli settlers also turned on the Israeli military itself, storming a military base near Ramallah and setting it on fire. The attackers denounced the base commander as a "traitor" for trying to enforce a closed military zone near the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik, where settlers had earlier killed three Palestinians.

According to Haaretz, some settlers pepper-sprayed soldiers and vandalized military vehicles, escalating tensions between extremist settler groups and the Israeli security establishment.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other officials condemned the settler attack on troops and have called for a full investigation.

📉 Context: Expanding Occupation, Rising Casualties

Israel’s aggressive operations in the West Bank—occupied since 1967—have sharply intensified in parallel with its war on Gaza. Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 941 Palestinians in the West Bank and arrested over 11,000, according to human rights groups.

With over 80% of Masafer Yatta now under military control or displacement orders, and with ongoing home demolitions in refugee camps, rights advocates warn that the West Bank is facing a deepening humanitarian and legal crisis.