Mohammad Sio
08 August 2026•Update: 08 August 2026
Israeli forces raided a town in the occupied West Bank early Saturday while Israeli occupiers attacked Palestinian homes and property near Bethlehem, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
About 15 Israeli military vehicles entered Yabad, southwest of Jenin, through its western entrance after troops blocked the town’s entrances with earth mounds, Wafa reported.
The forces raided dozens of homes, conducted field interrogations and detained residents for several hours, according to the agency. Several young men were beaten, and the contents of a number of homes were damaged, it added.
Yabad Mayor Samer Abu Bakr told Wafa that Israeli forces turned the home of Palestinian resident Ibrahim Amour into a field interrogation center, where several residents were detained for hours.
Separately, Israeli occupiers attacked the home of Palestinian resident Ahmad al-Hajj in the University Housing area east of Bethlehem, smashing all its windows, according to a security source cited by Wafa.
The agency also reported that occupiers grazed sheep near Palestinian homes in the Hamroush area of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, while others were seen near the home of Ibrahim Abu Odeh in the Abu Najim area east of Bethlehem.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli army and occupiers have intensified attacks across the West Bank, killing at least 1,182 Palestinians, injuring around 13,000 others and arresting nearly 25,000, according to official Palestinian figures.
Palestinian officials warned that the escalatory attacks were aimed at paving the way for Israel’s formal annexation of the West Bank, undermining the prospects for an independent Palestinian state envisioned in relevant UN resolutions.