Israeli forces detain dozens in West Bank raids as settler attacks are reported

OCCUPIED WEST BANK — Israeli forces detained dozens of Palestinians, including teachers, across the occupied West Bank on 19 October, and settlers attacked residents in several areas, according to reports citing the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Middle East Eye, relaying Wafa's account, said troops also issued demolition notices in the Jenin governorate. The Israeli authorities have not commented in the material reviewed by Zenga News.

Detentions and raids

In Jenin City, Israeli soldiers raided four neighbourhoods, Wafa reported. It said they detained dozens of people and held them for hours of field interrogation.

In Susiya, soldiers stopped a group of Palestinian teachers on their way to the local primary school, according to the report. They detained one teacher, named as Ismail al-Nawaj'ah, and seized the vehicle the group was using. The other teachers continued to the school on foot.

In the village of al-Tuwani, in Masafer Yatta, troops detained two Palestinian residents and two foreign solidarity activists. Wafa said this followed a settler attack on the home of Musab Rab'i.

Wafa also reported Israeli military raids in Qalqilya.

In a post on Telegram, the Palestine Chronicle said Israeli forces detained 12 Palestinians in Tulkarm governorate, most of them former detainees. The post is unverified, and Zenga News could not confirm the figure independently.

Settler incidents

In Nablus, the Jalud Co-educational Elementary School evacuated its students after settlers tried to raid the building, according to Wafa.

In the Ramallah area, two Palestinians were wounded after settlers beat them in the town of Turmus Ayya and the village of Deir Abu Mash'al, Wafa said. It reported that settlers set fire to a vehicle parked in front of two houses and then tried to burn the houses.

The Palestine Chronicle post gave a separate account. It said settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, injured two Palestinians near Taybeh and attacked an ambulance heading to help them. It also said settlers attacked olive harvesters and stole crops and equipment. It said Israeli forces kept the closure of Madama in place. These claims come from a single social media post and have not been confirmed by a news outlet or an official statement.

Demolitions

Israeli authorities issued more than 20 demolition notices in the Jenin governorate, Wafa reported. The notices covered greenhouses, agricultural sheds, a park and a car dealership.

In the Negev, the authorities razed three homes in the village of Umm Numaila and other buildings in the village of Abu Quraynat, according to the same report. Middle East Eye, citing Wafa, described this as part of an escalation in demolitions targeting Palestinian villages in the area.

What is unconfirmed

Zenga News could not independently verify the numbers of detainees or the accounts of the settler attacks. Wafa is a Palestinian news agency, and the Palestine Chronicle post uses the terms "occupation forces" and "illegal settlers". A third source, the Egyptian website Vetogate, published a headline on the same day describing "wide arrests and settler escalation" in the occupied West Bank. Its text was not available for review.

Background

The reports describe incidents in Masafer Yatta, Nablus, Jenin, Qalqilya, Tulkarm and Ramallah, and demolitions in the Negev. They point to activity across several governorates on a single day. None of the sources gives a total number of people detained.