Israeli forces detain a dozen Palestinians in West Bank raids as vehicles set ablaze in Beita

Israeli forces detained twelve Palestinians during overnight raids across the occupied West Bank, while two vehicles were set on fire in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, according to local Palestinian sources cited on Wednesday.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Israeli troops raided the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus and detained three Palestinians during the operation. In a separate raid in the al Jawza neighborhood of Nablus’s Old City, forces entered a metal workshop, confiscated equipment from inside and detained the owner along with his two sons following a search of their home.

In the village of al Rashaydah, east of Bethlehem, Israeli forces entered several homes overnight and detained four Palestinians for questioning. Two additional men were detained in the town of Aqaba, north of Tubas, after their homes were searched.

Local residents also reported that assailants set fire to two vehicles parked outside Palestinian homes in the eastern part of Beita early Wednesday. A similar incident occurred the previous day in the village of Umm Safa in the central West Bank, where two vehicles were burned and racist graffiti was spray painted during a raid, according to local sources.

The reported detentions and vehicle burnings come amid a broader rise in tension across the West Bank since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, with Palestinian rights groups reporting an increase both in Israeli military operations and in attacks carried out by settlers in the territory.

The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a statement that 628 attacks against Palestinians, their land and their property were recorded during August alone. The commission said the attacks directly harmed 164 Palestinians, including 20 children and 17 women, and that more than 21,000 trees were damaged or destroyed, the majority of them olive trees.

According to Palestinian estimates, roughly 750,000 Israeli settlers currently live across 141 settlements and 224 outposts considered illegal under international law in the West Bank, with an additional 250,000 settlers residing in 15 settlements in East Jerusalem.

The West Bank has remained under Israeli military administration since 1967, and the international community, including the United Nations, considers Israeli settlements in the territory illegal under international law, a position Israel disputes. Palestinian officials and human rights organizations have repeatedly called for international intervention to curb settler violence and military raids, while Israeli authorities maintain that operations in the West Bank are aimed at addressing security threats. Neither claim has been independently verified in relation to Wednesday’s reported incidents.