Israeli raid kills young Palestinian as West Bank arrests surge

During a raid south of Hebron on the evening of 27 January, the Israeli army killed a 20-year-old Palestinian man, Mohammed Rajih Nasrallah, Middle East Eye reported.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Nasrallah arrived at Dura Hospital with bullet wounds to the abdomen and remained in critical condition before doctors pronounced him dead. In the same military operation, another young man was wounded by gunfire. Israeli forces also arrested 12 Palestinians in the Hebron governorate, including two women, during the raids.

Since the start of 2026, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have expanded across the entire territory, rather than focusing specifically on the north, as was the case in February 2025 with Operation Iron Wall. On the night of 18 January, an operation was launched in the city of Hebron, resulting in several arrests. That same night, Israeli forces also detained several young Palestinians in Bethlehem, as well as in the Nablus and Ramallah governorates.

A similar pattern was repeated during the day and night of 27 January. In the northern West Bank, Israeli forces arrested 10 Palestinians from the village of Amatin, east of Qalqilya, after raiding homes for around two hours and conducting searches that residents said caused significant damage. In Nablus, Israeli troops stormed the villages of Madma and Burin, detaining dozens of residents. Meanwhile, in Tulkarem, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded a young man, Khader Mohammed Shahada, before arresting him.

Israeli forces regularly arrest Palestinians regardless of whether they have committed any offence. Thousands are currently held in Israeli prisons without charge, where they face dehumanising conditions. B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, reported that since October 2023 at least 84 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons, including a child.

Military operations are not the only threat facing Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Settler attacks are also increasing in number and intensity. While Israeli forces were carrying out raids across the West Bank on 27 January, settlers uprooted 200 olive trees in the town of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah, as attacks on Palestinian land and livelihoods continue to surge.

Furthermore, on 22 December the Israeli government approved the construction of 11 new settlements. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from the West Bank since October 2023, and many are facing escalating violence from both settlers and Israeli forces.

Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org