By Elham Asaad Buaras
London, (The Muslim News): A wave of violence swept across the occupied West Bank on Friday. At least two Palestinians have been killed and 11 were wounded by Israeli army fire and attacks by illegal settlers. Tensions remain high, even though a ceasefire is holding in Gaza.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its teams treated two people wounded by live ammunition during an Israeli military raid in Kafr Aqab, north of Jerusalem. Among them was a 17-year-old boy shot in the foot. Witnesses told the official WAFA news agency that Israeli forces stormed the town, chasing several youths while firing live rounds and stun grenades, and restricting civilian movement.
The raid took place just hours after Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in Qabatiya, south of Jenin. It also came a day after the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Mohammad Bahjat al-Hallak, who was hit while playing football in Ar-Rihiya village. In a rare admission, the Israeli army acknowledged that al-Hallak’s killing occurred “outside open-fire regulations,” with Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reporting “improper use of weapons” by the unit involved.
According to local authorities, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, around 10,000 wounded, and over 20,000 arrested, including 1,600 children, since the Gaza war began.
SETTLER VIOLENCE MARS OLIVE HARVEST
The violence extended beyond military operations. Illegal Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers across multiple towns. Local authorities described this as “the most dangerous harvest in decades.” Jewish settlers assaulted farmers in Salem, Urif, Hawara, Qusra, Aqraba, and Qabalan. They forcibly removed farmers from their fields and prevented olive harvesting.
Witnesses said settlers beat a Palestinian family in Qabalan, injuring four, and damaged several vehicles. In Turmus Ayya and Abu Falah, north of Ramallah, settlers set fire to farmland. The Health Ministry reported treating five people injured in a settler attack in Silwad.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said illegal settlers carried out 7,154 assaults on Palestinians and their property over the past two years. These attacks killed 34 Palestinians and forced 33 Bedouin communities to flee.
The olive harvest, once a time of celebration, has become a struggle to survive. In Burqa, north of Nablus, 67-year-old Mohammad Abdul Rahman said they work “with our lives in our hands” as settlers roam the hills. “The real pain,” he told Anadolu Agency, “is watching your land being looted and destroyed before your eyes.”
The Ministry of Agriculture said this year’s olive yield is one of the lowest in decades, at just 15% of normal levels.
GAZA DEVELOPMENTS
In Gaza, recovery efforts continue amid new allegations against Israeli forces. Government media office director Ismail Thawabta accused the Israeli army of organ theft, saying some of the 120 returned bodies showed strangulation marks and signs of deliberate killing. He called for an international investigation into the “barbaric crime.”
Humanitarian aid remains blocked as the Israeli extremist group Tsav 9 prevents trucks from crossing at Kerem Shalom. The group declared on social media, “No aid truck will pass until the last dead is returned,” even as Hamas’s armed wing said it is working to recover remaining bodies.
The UN says aid delivery remains hampered for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Since October 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 67,967 people and wounded 170,179.
[Photo: Palestinians, who returned to their homes after the ceasefire, try to continue their routines amid the rubble left behind by the attacks following the Israeli withdrawal in Khan Yunis, Gaza on October 17, 2025. Photojournalist: Abed Rahim Khatib/AA]
