Israeli bulldozers raze roads connecting Jenin and Burqin, while illegal settlers storm towns and uproot olive trees
Israeli bulldozers demolished roads in the northern West Bank on Friday, while illegal settlers carried out a wave of attacks against Palestinians in several towns, according to local sources.
Witnesses told Anadolu that Israeli forces, accompanied by bulldozers, raided the town of Burqin, west of Jenin, and began destroying roads linking it to the city of Jenin. The incursion caused extensive damage to infrastructure before the forces withdrew.
Since Jan. 21, the Israeli army has maintained an aggressive offensive across towns and refugee camps in the northern West Bank, especially in Jenin.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees reported that camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams have been turned into rubble, with approximately 40,000 Palestinians displaced.
Meanwhile, illegal Israeli settlers launched raids and attacks in various parts of the occupied West Bank, notably in Beita and Iraq Burin in the south of Nablus, Farkha and Biddya in the west of Salfit, Al-Funduq in the east of Qalqilya, and Umm Safa in the west of Ramallah.
In Umm Safa, village council head Marwan Sabah told Anadolu that Israeli bulldozers uprooted around 500 olive trees from village lands to make way for a settler road.
In Biddya, two Palestinians were injured after illegal settlers attacked them in the Khillet Hassan area. Both were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Dozens of illegal settlers also stormed Mount Al-Urmah in Beita on Friday under army protection to mark the Jewish Passover holiday, according to eyewitnesses.
Tension has been high in the occupied West Bank, where at least 952 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 others injured since the Gaza war in October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
