Israeli forces conducted a large-scale operation in the Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, wounding at least 51 Palestinians, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.
During Thursday's operation, Israeli soldiers demolished commercial shops near the Qalandiya checkpoint, then imposed a curfew on the nearby town of Kafr Aqab and blocked roads connecting the area to Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said 35 people were hospitalized with severe beatings, six others were treated at the scene, one was hit by a rubber-coated steel bullet, and six suffered from tear gas inhalation.
PRCS ambulance teams were blocked from reaching the wounded since Wednesday night but managed to evacuate several patients, including those needing dialysis.
Reporters standing at the camp's entrance were fired at with stun grenades by Israeli soldiers and ordered to leave.
Dozens of Palestinians, including women and children, were detained for interrogation in houses turned into makeshift holding areas, according to local media.
The same day, Israeli forces also raided Jenin city, leaving one Palestinian shot and another assaulted, according to PRCS.
Israeli military attacks and settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank have escalated in recent months, alongside increased destruction of Palestinian property and illegal land seizures.
Human rights organizations have recorded more than 11,000 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers across the West Bank in just the first half of this year, with over 2,300 Palestinians displaced from their homes due to settler violence and related restrictions.
A UN-mandated investigation committee concluded in June that Israeli authorities consistently fail to prevent settler attacks or investigate and prosecute those responsible. In some cases, authorities directly facilitated violence through military protection and by providing weapons and funding to settlers, the investigators said.
Israel has also banned UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, from operating in occupied East Jerusalem and destroyed several of its facilities, including an area near Qalandiya.
Since taking charge of civil affairs in the West Bank, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has approved, legalized, or re-established more than 104 illegal settlements and 160 agricultural outposts. Meanwhile, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has distributed thousands of guns to settlers through state-backed “civil defense” programs.
Several Western governments, including the UK, Canada, and France, have imposed sanctions on some settlers and sitting ministers, including Smotrich, for their role in violence.
In one of his first decrees upon returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump canceled restrictive sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of attacking Palestinians.
