In the West Bank on Thursday, the Israeli military continued its daily and nightly invasions of Palestinian towns and villages, while Israeli paramilitary colonizers (settlers) engaged in violent attacks and land takeovers of Palestinian land and property.
The following incidents were documented by local sources on Thursday in various parts of the West Bank (This does not include the Israeli assault on Gaza, which reached its 635th day today, with over 100 civilians killed in multiple attacks):
Also today, Israeli forces killed a 61 year old man riding a bicycle in Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem.
Paramilitary settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque:
Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday under the protection of the Israeli occupation police.
Local sources reported that dozens of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in groups, conducted provocative tours of its courtyards, and performed Talmudic rituals under the protection of occupation forces.
Israeli occupation forces abduct four Palestinian citizens from the Shuweika suburb, north of Tulkarem:
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) abducted on Thursday four citizens from Shuweika suburb, north of Tulkarem.
Local sources reported that the occupation forces arrested Diaa Mahdawi, Muhammad Maher Asaad, Allam al-Badawi, and Liwaa Ramzi Naalwa, a high school student, after raiding and searching their homes.
Israeli occupation forces abduct 21 citizens, including children, from Deir Istiya:
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) abducted, at dawn on Thursday, 21 citizens from the town of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit, including six high school students.
Local sources reported to WAFA news that the occupation forces raided the town and launched an arrest campaign that included: Rafeh Rafiq Awad and his son Rafiq, Ammar Abdul Rahman Salman and his son Karim, Saad Tawfiq Mukhalafa and his son Karim, Samer Abdul Rahman Salman and his sons Abdul Rahman and Ali, Jamil Kokash and his son Ahmed, Khaled Al-Qadi and his son Salah Al-Din, Mithqal Al-Qadi and his son Majdi, Mahmoud Aql and his son Hamza, Durgham Abu Hijleh and his son Nour, and Mahmoud Odeh Al-Khatib and his son Rami.
The sources added that six of the detainees are students taking their high school exams this year.
Israeli occupation forces abduct 6 Palestinians from Hebron:
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) abducted six Palestinians on Thursday during raids into the city of Hebron and the town of Halhul, north of the occupied West Bank.
Security sources reported that Israeli occupation forces stormed the city of Hebron and abducted five citizens: Muhammad Khalaf Ghaith, Luay Muhammad Ghaith, Imad al-Ja’bari, Saif al-Natsheh, and Hudhayfah Abdul Qader Idris, after raiding their homes, searching them, and ransacking their contents.
The occupation forces stormed the town of Halhul in the north and arrested citizen Khalil Abu Rayyan to pressure his son, Mohammed, to surrender to the occupation.
The occupation forces also raided the home of Ismail Al-Za’aqiq in the town of Beit Ummar and seized his vehicle.
Israeli occupation forces abducted a woman and a young man in Beitunia and Deir al-Sudan:
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) abducted a Palestinian woman and a young man at dawn on Thursday during a raid into the town of Beitunia and the village of Deir al-Sudan in the Ramallah and al-Biereh district.
Security sources reported that the Israeli occupation forces abducted citizen Zainab Abu Zaid (Amira), director of the “Researchers Without Borders” organization, after raiding her home and vandalizing its contents in the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah, while they also abducted the young man Nour Fouad Abu Al-Hajj (27) years old, after raiding his home and vandalizing its contents in the village of Deir Sudan, north of Ramallah.
In the same context, Israeli occupation forces raided several homes during their raids on the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood and the al-Ain Mosque area in the city of al-Bireh, and the village of Deir Abu Mash’al, west of Ramallah.
Israeli occupation forces demolish facilities and bulldoze lands in Issawiya:
Israeli bulldozers on Thursday demolished residential and agricultural facilities and razed lands in the eastern Rawabi al-Issawiya area, northeast of occupied Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Governorate reported that Israeli occupation forces demolished a number of residential and agricultural caravans and razed citizens’ lands in the town.
The Governorate pointed out that the lands are owned by citizens Muhammad Alaa Al-Sheikh, Muhammad Saleh Mustafa, Mazen Muhsin, Mustafa Abu Juma, Daoud Attia, Abu Naim Al-Mutawwar, and Mansour Muhsin.
Forced displacement of 22 families in Sur Baher:
The Israeli occupation forces give 22 families a deadline to evacuate their homes in order to seize their lands in Sur Baher. The authorities gave the families until July 7th to evacuate their homes so the Israeli military can seize their lands in the town of Umm Tuba in Sur Baher, south of occupied Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Governorate said that the Israeli occupation authorities notified 22 families to evacuate their homes in the Al-Mashahid neighborhood in the town of Umm Tuba, opposite the Har Homa settlement, which was built on Palestinian land in Jabal Abu Ghneim, in preparation for the seizure of the land.
For his part, Yousef Abu Teir, a Jerusalemite and one of the affected residents, said that the occupation court gave him and 21 other families, comprising approximately 180 Jerusalemites, until the seventh of this month to vacate their homes.
Abu Teir affirmed his and the affected residents’ rejection of this unjust decision, emphasizing that they will not abandon their land and the land of their ancestors.
Paramilitary Settlers attack a house and destroy its contents in the village of Arab al-Malihat, force 20 families into exile:
A group of armed Israeli settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, stormed and vandalized the home of Suleiman Musa in the village of Arab al-Malihat, northwest of Jericho, at dawn on Thursday, forcing him and his family to leave the house.
Hassan Malihat, general supervisor of the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, said that settlers stormed the house’s perimeter, smashing doors and windows, and vandalizing furniture and personal property, while the occupation forces stood by and provided them with full protection.
Malihat added that the attack followed a series of ongoing threats and harassment, forcing Suleiman Musa to leave his home for his own safety and that of his family.
He considered what happened to be a flagrant violation of international law, particularly Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits forced displacement, holding the occupation authorities fully responsible for this crime.
The repeated attacks by Israeli occupation forces and settlers on the Arab al-Malihat community, northwest of Jericho, have forced about 20 families to leave their homes.
Hassan Malihat told WAFA that approximately 20 families out of 85 living in the Arab al-Malihat community have begun dismantling their tents and leaving, as a result of the provocative practices and repeated attacks they face from armed Israeli paramilitary settlers and the occupation army.
He added that all the families, numbering around 500 people, are threatened with displacement, given the presence of large numbers of settlers within the community and on its outskirts .
In a statement issued this evening, the Al-Baidar Organization warned that “this threatens to erase the historical and human existence of the Arab Al-Malihat community and opens the way for illegal colonial expansion.” It issued an urgent appeal to the international community, stressing that what is happening to the community constitutes a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
The organization pointed out that what is happening in Arab al-Malihat is a serious warning message to all Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley, calling on all international and human rights organizations to take urgent action, send monitoring missions to document the violations, and pressure the occupation to halt its displacement plans.
Yesterday, Wednesday, settlers established a new colonial outpost near the Arab al-Malihat community, just 150 meters from the residents’ homes. They brought herds of livestock with them, erected pens for them, and set up tents.
Attacks by Israeli occupation forces and settlers on Palestinian Bedouin communities since October 7, 2023, have resulted in the forced displacement of 30 communities, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.
Israeli occupation forces storm the Al-Far’a area southern Tubas in the occupied West Bank.
Israel’s High Court pauses demolition of homes in Tulkarem:
The Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision to temporarily freeze demolition orders and prevent their implementation until further notice. The court also gave the state until September 2, 2025, to submit a detailed response to the petition.
Tulkarem Governor Abdullah Kamil told WAFA on Thursday that the decision came after a legal petition filed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the Adalah Center for Human Rights, in direct coordination with the governor, to the Israeli Supreme Court. The court accepted the petition and abruptly decided to freeze the implementation of the decision, requesting the Israeli military prosecution to submit its response and data by September 2, 2025.
He explained that the decision does not mean a final cancellation of the demolition, but rather a freeze, emphasizing that, during the specified period, comprehensive legal files will be prepared to pressure for the cancellation of the demolition order. All experienced and specialized legal professionals will be mobilized to stand before the Supreme Court against the Public Prosecution, seeking to issue a final decision that halts the demolition process entirely.
New “facts on the ground” in Masafer Yatta, as Israeli military and paramilitary colonial settlers take over more Palestinian land:
Salah Tamizi reports: For decades, the Israeli occupation and its settlers have continued to implement plans aimed at displacing Palestinian citizens from the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, through escalating attacks on residential areas, seizing land, demolishing homes, and imposing a new colonial reality.
The Masafer Yatta area comprises 23 villages and ruins of destroyed villages, whose residents live under constant threat of displacement as a result of the occupation’s practices, which have led to the seizure of more than 90% of the area’s grazing lands, the demolition of dozens of homes, and the destruction of basic infrastructure, in an attempt to empty the area of its inhabitants for the benefit of colonial expansion.
Head of the Masafer Yatta village council, Nidal Abu Aram, said that the occupation authorities began implementing the “Alon” colonial plan in the 1980s, which aims to establish a chain of connected colonies from the southwest of Masafer Yatta, passing through the colonies of (Karmel, Maon, Susya, Beit Yair, and reaching Metzir, Nesher, and Avi Gal), to impose a new colonial geographical reality on thousands of dunams of citizens’ lands.
He added that the occupation government has legalized the establishment of training camps on Palestinian land and prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing it under the pretext that it is a “dangerous area.” This has deprived shepherds of pasture, led to the destruction of crops, the arrest of citizens, and the confiscation of their vehicles and means of transportation, including livestock, in an attempt to force them to leave.
Abu Aram explained that since the beginning of 2024, the occupation has established eight new colonial outposts on hills and highlands, closed agricultural roads, and prevented residents from using them, as part of what is known as “pastoral colonialism,” which is accompanied by a direct escalation in attacks on residents and their propert.
Over the past two years, the village council has documented the demolition of more than 30 homes, 20 sheep pens, the seizure of 30 tents, the destruction of 32 sections of water networks, the smashing of 12 solar energy units, the poisoning and demolition of six water wells, and the seizure of 72 wells near settlements.
He pointed out that the occupation authorities notified 18 homes, 5 schools, 3 mosques, and 4 clinics of demolition, in light of the escalating targeting of residential areas.
For his part, the head of the Susya village council, Jihad al-Nawaja’a, said that residents had formed local protection committees to confront the attacks of settlers, who attack homes and burn crops at night under the protection of occupation soldiers. The soldiers carry out widespread arrests following the attacks, forcing detainees to sign pledges and impose fines without any clear legal basis.
Israeli paramilitary settlers set up outpost on village land in Mu’arajat, southern Jordan Valley:
Israeli settlers from nearby illegal outposts invaded land owned by Palestinians in the village of Mu’arajat, and are starting to build an outpost very close to the community’s homes – as recently happened in Maghayer a-Dir, where the residents were forced to leave.
International observers who were present at the scene trying to film the land theft were struck by stones thrown by the paramilitary settlers.
Soldiers who arrived at the scene allowed the settlers to enter and even suggested that the international observers talk to the Palestinian police (who have no power to do anything against the Israeli paramilitary settlers).
Local sources report that the Israeli military willingly tolerates the settlers’ violence and continues to participate in the ethnic cleansing and the expulsion of Palestinian communities to allow the Israeli settlers to move onto their land.
