RAMALLAH / Awad al-Rajoub / Anadolu

Palestinians, including an elderly man, were injured Sunday evening after being attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, while the Israeli army stormed various areas, arrested 4 Palestinians, and issued notices to stop construction of several facilities.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that an elderly man was wounded, while others (unspecified number) sustained bruises and minor injuries following an attack by settlers on citizens in the town of Surif, northwest of Hebron in the southern West Bank.

The agency quoted Surif Mayor Hazem Ghneimat as saying that a group of armed settlers, equipped with sticks and clubs, attacked citizens in their homes in the Khallat Ghneim area, causing an elderly citizen to sustain head injuries from being beaten with sticks and clubs.

Ghneimat added that the attack also resulted in injuries to a number of citizens with bruises and minor wounds.

Regarding settler attacks, WAFA reported that a number of them released a herd of cattle onto Palestinian land planted with fruit trees in the Khallat al-Homs area, south of Yatta town, south of Hebron, causing damage.

In the same context, activist monitoring Israeli violations south of Hebron, Osama Makhamra, told Anadolu that an Israeli force arrested a Palestinian citizen from the Masafer Yatta area.

Also in the southern West Bank, the official agency reported that settlers released their sheep onto agricultural lands in the village of al-Maniya, east of Bethlehem, causing damage to crops.

In the northern West Bank, WAFA said that the Israeli army stormed the village of Imatin, east of Qalqilya, raided a workshop at its main entrance, and arrested three citizens who were inside.

It added that the Israeli army distributed notices to stop work and construction in Palestinian facilities in the eastern area of Jenin city, without specifying the nature or number of targeted facilities.

Israel pursues Palestinian construction and issues demolition and stop-work notices under the pretext of lack of permits, especially in Area C, while simultaneously allowing settlement projects to proceed unchecked.

The Oslo II Accord, signed in 1995 between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, classified the West Bank into three areas: Area A under full Palestinian control, Area B under Israeli security control and Palestinian civil and administrative control, and Area C, which constitutes about 60 percent of the West Bank, where Palestinians are prohibited from making any changes to the land.

Regarding incursions, WAFA said the Israeli army stormed the villages and towns of Deir Jarir and Sinjil east and northeast of Ramallah (central), and Deir Abu Da'if east of Jenin (north).

Since October 2023, the West Bank has seen an escalation in attacks by the Israeli army and settlers, resulting in the killing of 1,181 Palestinians, injuring about 13,000, and the arrest of nearly 24,000 Palestinians.