Israeli army detains several Palestinians, illegal settlers slaughter livestock in West Bank violence

Israeli forces shot and injured a man and detained several Palestinians during overnight raids across the occupied West Bank on Friday.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli troops stormed the area surrounding the western cemetery in Nablus, raided a home, and opened fire, injuring Fadi Abu Sharkh.

Soldiers then arrested Abu Sharkh while preventing Red Crescent medics from accessing the site to provide emergency care.

Additional arrests were reported during raids across several provinces, particularly in Bethlehem in the south and Tulkarem in the north, where Israeli soldiers searched and ransacked homes.

Meanwhile, in the northern Jordan Valley, armed illegal Israeli settlers launched a violent assault on the Palestinian herding community of al-Malih.

According to Mahdi Daraghmeh, head of the local village council, illegal settlers attacked tents, assaulted residents, stole livestock, and slaughtered around 117 sheep, using knives and live ammunition.

“The illegal settlers killed the animals in brutal ways. It's a dangerous escalation against both the people and their property,” Daraghmeh said, describing a night of terror for families in the region.

Since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.