West Bank – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) conducted extensive raids across several cities and towns in the occupied West Bank early Wednesday morning. The operations resulted in the detention of approximately 100 Palestinians, primarily from the town of Beit Ummar, located north of Hebron in the southern West Bank.
Eyewitnesses reported that IDF troops stormed Beit Ummar, raiding numerous homes and converting some into temporary military outposts. Among the properties targeted was the family home of the deceased Walid Sabarneh. Soldiers allegedly ransacked the residence before sealing it off, preventing the family from re-entering.
A strict military blockade was imposed on Beit Ummar, with all access roads sealed off by earth mounds and metal gates. Residents were reportedly barred from leaving or moving freely within the town.
Sources on the ground confirmed that the IDF launched a large-scale arrest campaign in the area, transforming the town’s municipal stadium into a temporary detention and interrogation center. Videos circulating online purportedly show Israeli soldiers escorting handcuffed Palestinians within the town.
The raids follow the announcement by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on Tuesday that the General Authority for Civil Affairs had informed them of the deaths of Imran al-Atrash from Hebron, and Walid Mohammed Sabarneh from Beit Ummar. Both men were reportedly shot by Israeli forces near Bethlehem in the southern West Bank.
Earlier reports indicated that IDF forces raided the Wad al-Harriya neighborhood in Hebron, ransacking the home of Imran al-Atrash’s father. Similar actions were reported in the Abu Kтила neighborhood, where several homes were raided, and residents were temporarily detained. In Deir Samet, west of Hebron, soldiers allegedly seized a house, turning it into a military post and interrogation center after detaining and interrogating several young men.
These events unfold in the wake of Tuesday’s incident in which an Israeli settler was killed and three others injured, one critically, in a car-ramming and stabbing attack at the Gush Etzion junction south of the West Bank. The two Palestinian attackers, one reportedly from Beit Ummar, were immediately shot and killed by Israeli forces.
