Description

Photo:
Scene. Published by IMEMC News
____

by IMEMC News
May 16, 2025

For the past two days, Israeli forces and paramilitary colonizers have intensified their assaults on Palestinian civilians and their properties across towns and villages in Salfit, located in the central part of the occupied West Bank. On Friday at dawn, the colonizers burnt fourteen Palestinians cars and hurled a firebomb at a home in Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit.

Nathmi Salman, a nonviolent activist against the illegal Israeli Annexation Wall and Colonies, stated that large numbers of Israeli soldiers and police surrounded the home of Yasser Hatem Abu Zaid after paramilitary colonizers hurled a firebomb at his house, located on the outskirts of Deir Istiya near the main entrance leading to Wadi Qana.

The attack was an apparent attempt to set the home ablaze, even though it houses a family of more than 13 members, including women and children.

In a related incident, paramilitary colonizers set fire to more than 14 Palestinian-owned vehicles near the illegal Ariel Industrial colony, as part of ongoing attacks targeting civilians’ property.

Israeli soldiers also carried out a large-scale invasion of the town of Kafr ad-Dik, west of Salfit, during which they assaulted residents, stormed and searched homes, and abducted several individuals.

Among those taken were Saleh Khader Hmeidan, Ahmad Mazen Ali Ahmad, Mazen Nael Ali Ahmed, and Omar Hashem Ahmad.

For days, Salfit Governorate has been experiencing a sharp escalation by Israeli forces and paramilitary colonizers, including road closures, land bulldozing, military invasions into towns, and direct targeting of civilians and their belongings as part of a collective punishment policy aimed at displacing residents and expanding colonization efforts in the area.

On Thursday, Israeli occupation soldiers killed five Palestinians in Tammun town, south of Tubas, in the occupied West Bank’s northeastern part.

The slain Palestinians have been identified as:

Wadea’ Eyad Ahmad Bani Odah (19 years old)
Ibrahim Yassin Ahmad Bani Odah (24 years old)
Rida Kamal Mahmoud Bani Odah (22 years old)
Islam Azmi Hussein Bani Odah (22 years old)
Saher Nabil Bisharat (23 years old)

As the Israeli genocide in Gaza intensifies, Israeli soldiers and paramilitary colonizers have escalated their military offensive across the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, resulting in the killing of more than 978 Palestinians, injuring thousands, and abducting over 17,000 people since October 7, 2023.

281 Palestinians were killed in Jenin, 210 in Tulkarem, 116 in Nablus, 92 in Tubas, 83 in Hebron, 63 in Ramallah, 53 in Jerusalem, 36 in Qalqilia, 26 in Bethlehem, and 12 in Jericho and northern plains.

This year alone, 143 Palestinians, including 24 children and 5 women, have been killed in the West Bank, one of the slain Palestinians was killed by illegal Israeli paramilitary colonizers.

In the destroyed, starved, and besieged Gaza Strip, the ongoing Israeli genocide has resulted in the killing of more than 52,928 Palestinians, including at least 15,626 children, 9,807 women, 3,855 elderly individuals, 237 journalists, and 23 medics. At least 119,864 people—mostly children, women, and the elderly—have been wounded since October 7, 2023.

Features