Israeli forces demolish homes, detain 25 Palestinians in West Bank raids
28/07/2026 | 20:45:06
Occupied Jerusalem, Ramallah, July 28 (Petra) -- Israeli occupation forces carried out home demolitions and detained 25 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to local officials and human rights organizations.
In the village of Deir Razih, west of Dura in the Hebron Governorate, Israeli bulldozers demolished two homes without allowing residents to retrieve their personal belongings, the Deir Razih Village Council said in a statement.
A separate demolition was carried out in the village of Shuqba, west of Ramallah, where Israeli troops accompanied by two bulldozers destroyed a residential property, the local village council reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces arrested 25 Palestinians, including former prisoners, during widespread search-and-arrest operations across multiple towns in the West Bank. The Palestinian Prisoners' Society stated that troops raided several areas under heavy gunfire, detaining individuals on allegations of being wanted by security authorities.
In Hizma, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, Israeli troops accompanied by heavy machinery bulldozed privately owned Palestinian land and closed off several secondary roads, including an access road to a Bedouin community.
Rawhi Fattouh, President of the Palestinian National Council, condemned the intensified demolitions across the West Bank, calling them part of an integrated settlement scheme aimed at gradual annexation, forced displacement, and land clearing.
Fattouh noted in a statement that widespread demolitions over the past three days spanning Arraba, Anza, Al-Deirat, Irfaiyya, Sa'ir, Ni'lin, Shuqba, Nahalin, Tuqu', Sur Baher, Silwan, Jit, and a Bedouin community west of Asira al-Qibliya amount to a systematic policy of demographic engineering.
Separately, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society released a fact sheet covering the first half of 2026, stating that Israeli occupation authorities have expanded mass arrests and administrative detentions.
The organization reported that over 100 Palestinian detainees have died in custody since the start of the war, with the identities of 90 confirmed, while authorities continue to withhold the bodies of several deceased prisoners and refuse international agencies access to thousands of detainees from the Gaza Strip.
//Petra// AF