Israel detains 2, injures 4 Palestinians in West Bank raids

Israeli occupation forces detained two Palestinians and wounded four others during a series of pre-dawn raids across multiple districts of the occupied West Bank, according to local sources cited by Anadolu Agency. The operations targeted residential neighbourhoods in Hebron, Ramallah, Tulkarm, and Jenin, where heavily armed troops backed by military vehicles stormed homes, conducted searches, and clashed with residents who confronted the incursions.

In Hebron, in the southern West Bank, soldiers raided several homes and detained one Palestinian after ransacking the property, witnesses said. In Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, troops set up flying checkpoints and carried out additional house-to-house searches, detaining a second Palestinian. The injuries were reported in Tulkarm and Jenin, where confrontations erupted as soldiers entered the densely populated refugee camps that have been the focus of repeated Israeli military operations over the past two years. Medical sources said the four wounded Palestinians sustained injuries from live fire and rubber-coated steel bullets, with at least one in moderate condition.

The latest raids fit a pattern of nightly Israeli incursions into the occupied West Bank that has intensified sharply since October 2023. According to Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups, more than 18,000 Palestinians have been detained in the territory since the outbreak of the war on Gaza, with thousands held under administrative detention without charge or trial. Refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarm, including Nur Shams and Tulkarm camp, have borne the brunt of large-scale military operations involving bulldozers, drones, and air strikes.

The Palestinian Authority and human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned the raids as collective punishment that violates international humanitarian law. United Nations monitors have warned that the systematic destruction of homes and infrastructure in the northern West Bank amounts to forced displacement of protected civilian populations under occupation.

From Doha, Qatar has consistently denounced Israeli military escalation in the West Bank as a flagrant violation of international law and a dangerous accelerant to wider regional instability. Qatari officials have pressed at the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for binding measures to halt the raids, end administrative detention, and protect Palestinian civilians. Doha has also funnelled humanitarian assistance through the Qatar Fund for Development to support families displaced by Israeli operations and to rebuild homes demolished during military incursions.

Gulf states have echoed Qatar's position, with the Gulf Cooperation Council reiterating that lasting regional security cannot be achieved without ending the occupation and securing a Palestinian state on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. Analysts in Doha say the continued raids underscore the urgency of a unified Arab diplomatic response and renewed international pressure on the occupying power.