On Sunday, Russian journalist and activist Andrei X documented footage of Israeli soldiers in the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah. He said they refused to protect Palestinians from settlers’ attacks and removed journalists and activists after declaring the area a closed military zone. The footage showed masked soldiers pointing their rifles at Palestinians, while one soldier said their presence was intended only to “protect Jews.”
Burqa closed and journalists and activists removed
A soldier also showed an order to close the area on his phone before asking those present to leave. Andrei X said on his Instagram account that declaring the area a closed military zone was used to remove journalists and activists and prevent them from documenting the attacks. The Palestinian News Agency reported on Saturday that settlers had attacked the outskirts of Burqa and thrown stones at homes and vehicles.
In a separate attack on Sunday evening, Palestinians Mohammad Darwish and Nash’at Ishtayeh sustained injuries and bruises after settlers assaulted them, according to Palestine TV. The two men were on their land in the Wadi al-Shaer area east of Salfit, in the northern West Bank.
The Labeider human rights organization said settlers had set fire to agricultural land in the Wadi al-Balat area alongside the Ramallah-Nablus road, damaging crops that provide their owners with a livelihood. The organization called for protecting farmers and their land and halting attacks on their property. In another incident, Palestine TV reported that settlers entered the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, and opened fire between Palestinian homes.
Detention and arrests during West Bank raids
The incidents coincided with operations carried out by the Israeli military in several areas of the West Bank. The Palestinian News Agency said the forces detained a foreign activist and seized his vehicle at a checkpoint at the western entrance to the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, amid measures that caused traffic congestion and disrupted residents’ movement.
In the southern West Bank, the Israeli military arrested a Palestinian during a raid on the village of al-Tabaqa, south of Hebron. An Israeli force also arrested 23-year-old Shaheed Mustafa Yusuf Maatan while he was working at a private school in the village of Rammoun, after live fire was used during a raid on the village of Kafr Ain, northwest of Ramallah. No injuries were reported, according to the Palestinian agency.
Israeli forces raided the town of Anata, northeast of Jerusalem, and deployed across several of its streets and neighborhoods. In Jenin Governorate, the forces entered the villages of Faqqu’a and al-Fandaqumiya and raided a home in the town of Arraba, according to Voice of Palestine Radio. Official Palestinian data indicate that more than 1,190 Palestinians have been killed and more than 13,000 injured in the West Bank since October 2023, amid escalating settler attacks and Israeli military operations.
Escalating settler attacks and settlement numbers
The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission recorded 628 attacks carried out by settlers during August. In June, 14 UN special rapporteurs warned that the sharp escalation in settler attacks, which they said had Israeli support and complicity, posed an existential threat to Palestinian communities.
