Israel steps up West Bank raids and demolitions; UN warns territory at 'boiling point'
Al Jazeera Staff
Israeli forces detained at least 23 Palestinians and demolished homes across the West Bank on Tuesday, while the UN warned the territory is at a 'boiling point.' Settler attacks and demolitions have displaced thousands and fueled concerns of de facto annexation.
Israeli forces continued a sweeping crackdown in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, detaining at least 23 Palestinians and demolishing homes, as the United Nations warned that the territory is at a “boiling point.”
The arrests and demolitions came after dozens of Israeli settlers staged fresh raids on Palestinian villages, including an incident in Khirbet ar-Ras al-Ahmar, where a water pipeline was destroyed.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, those detained included two children—one of whom has a disability—as well as a man who was seized while herding livestock in al-Hadidiyah, north of the Jordan Valley.
At least 11 others were arrested in Jenin province, and five were detained in the Bethlehem area.
In the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, Israeli forces demolished the home of Farouq Ramadan's family. Ramadan was one of four Palestinians killed in a clash with Israeli settlers on July 24. Two Israelis also died in the incident.
The Israeli government maintains a policy of demolishing the homes of relatives of Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis—a practice human rights organizations condemn as collective punishment.
Near Yatta in the Hebron province, Israeli forces also demolished the home of Ibrahim Mifleh al-Atimin and filled in a water well, leaving his nine family members without shelter, according to Wafa.
Raids and demolitions continue
Israeli troops demolished 12 commercial warehouses in the village of Anza and leveled an agricultural structure in Yarza, east of Tubas. In Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, they issued demolition notices for the Khallat al-Dabaa school along with several homes and agricultural buildings.
According to United Nations data, Israel has demolished an average of 122 Palestinian buildings per month so far this year.
In a separate incident, dozens of settlers attacked a group of Palestinians plowing land in Al-Mughayyir, wounding six people, including three children and two women.
Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Al-Mughayyir, said settlers also set fire to part of a valley and attacked nearby homes.
“More than 60 percent of Al-Mughayyir's land has been confiscated by the Israeli army, while settlers have erected at least 11 illegal outposts in the village, making it impossible for farmers to cultivate their land,” she said.
“About 119 Palestinian communities in the West Bank have been displaced because of this situation over the past three years. Palestinians are treated as trespassers on their own land, while settlers cut down trees, burn, and seize land with impunity,” she added.
In Burqa, northwest of Nablus, six Palestinians, including two children, were wounded after Israeli forces attacked residents during a raid, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Settlers also raided the villages of Awarta, Osarin, and Sarra near Nablus.
The attacks are part of a wave of sharply escalating violence by Israeli forces and settlers across the West Bank, as Israel prepares for parliamentary elections in October.
UN warns of 'de facto annexation'
Addressing the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov said the West Bank is at a “boiling point.”
He said Israeli forces and settlers have killed 76 Palestinians, including 18 children, in the West Bank since the start of the year, while around 3,800 Palestinians—nearly half of them children—have been displaced from their homes due to violence, demolitions, and evictions.
Alakbarov noted that the UN has recorded more than 1,430 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage in about 260 Palestinian communities in 2026, many carried out in the presence of Israeli forces. Since January 2023, 127 Palestinian communities have been fully or partially displaced, with 47 communities completely wiped out, affecting more than 6,390 people.
He highlighted that settler attacks, previously concentrated mainly in Area C—where Israel has full civil and security control—are increasingly spreading to Areas A and B.
The Israeli government has also advanced or approved approximately 12,360 settler housing units across the West Bank this year, including 5,160 units in East Jerusalem, according to Alakbarov.
“These are interconnected steps, not isolated developments,” he warned, stressing that they are reshaping the West Bank, undermining the Palestinian Authority, and driving “de facto annexation.”
