Israeli army arrests 17 Palestinians, demolishes home in West Bank raids

Israeli forces arrested at least 17 Palestinians, including two women and a child, and demolished a home in the West Bank on Wednesday, in the latest escalation in the occupied territory, according to local officials.

Israeli troops carried out raids across multiple areas in the West Bank, arresting “at least 17 Palestinians, including two women and child,” the Prisoners’ Media Office said in a statement.

The office said forces raided homes, searched properties and damaged belongings during the raids, which were concentrated in Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron and Ramallah.

In a separate development, Israeli forces sealed off the town of Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah, blocking all entrances with earth mounds and isolating it from surrounding areas, local official Abdullah Awad said.

“Israeli forces stormed the town at dawn with military bulldozers and closed all roads, including main, secondary and agricultural routes, leaving no access in or out,” Awad said.

He added that movement inside the town was “completely paralyzed,” with schools and services disrupted, while Israeli occupiers attacked nearby areas, uprooted olive trees and prevented farmers from reaching their land.

Turmus Ayya has a population of about 4,000 residents, according to local data.

The reasons for the closure were not immediately clear.

Elsewhere, Israeli forces demolished a two-story Palestinian home in the town of Shuqba, west of Ramallah, citing construction without a permit, local council head Adnan Shalash said.

“Israeli forces, accompanied by bulldozers, stormed the town and began demolishing the home,” Shalash said, adding that the property also included a swimming pool and a playground.

He said Israeli troops fired live ammunition toward residential areas during the demolition, though no injuries were reported.

According to the official Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israeli authorities carried out 37 demolition operations in April, targeting 78 Palestinian structures, including inhabited homes and agricultural facilities.

The West Bank has seen a sustained escalation since the start of the Israeli war in Gaza in October 2023, including killings, arrests, demolitions and settlement expansion, according to Palestinian officials.

At least 1,155 Palestinians have been killed, about 11,750 wounded and nearly 22,000 arrested during that period, according to official Palestinian data.

About 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 141 illegal settlements and 224 outposts across the West Bank, including around 250,000 in East Jerusalem, which the United Nations considers part of the occupied Palestinian territories.

*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul