Ramallah:Israeli forces demolished a memorial at Birzeit University and arrested 12 Palestinians in separate raids throughout the West Bank, as reported on Monday. The memorial was located at Birzeit University, north of Ramallah, and commemorated students who had been killed in Israeli attacks.
According to Anadolu Agency, the Israeli forces entered the university campus with a military bulldozer, dismantling the memorial. Additionally, they detained a university security guard, raided several facilities, and stationed themselves around the campus during the operation. Previously, on September 26, Israeli forces had reportedly entered the campus to photograph the memorial.
Birzeit University, serving 13,400 students across nine faculties and 174 academic programs for the 2025-2026 academic year, has experienced multiple Israeli raids, resulting in arrests and injuries.
In addition to the demolition, Israeli forces arrested 12 Palestinians, including three children and two women, during raids in Tubas, Nablus, Jenin, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Al-Bireh, as reported by the Palestinian Prisoners' Media Office. The arrests included individuals from various locations, such as two in Tammun, three children in Deir Sharaf and Qusin, three in Meithalun, two in Bethlehem, and a political activist along with a Birzeit University student in the Ramallah area.
Currently, about 9,350 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails, including 90 women and 350 children, according to organizations monitoring prisoner affairs.
Israeli occupiers have also been accused of attacking Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest in the West Bank, with reports of harvested olives and a tractor being stolen, as well as trees being damaged. In Nablus, a tractor was seized near Bazariya, and damage was reported in Umm Safa, northwest of Ramallah. Forces also prevented farmers from harvesting in the Jabal Qamas area between Beita and Osarin. The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported over 14,742 attacks since October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 66 Palestinians and damage to over 147,000 trees, including more than 100,000 olive trees.
In Hebron, the Israeli army demolished a Palestinian home in Khallet al-Deirat, leaving two families homeless, citing the lack of a building permit. Homeowner Fares Mohammed, who witnessed the 25-minute demolition, described the impact on his family. The house was in Area C, under full Israeli control according to the Oslo II framework.
Official Palestinian figures indicate that Israel conducted 341 demolition operations involving 740 Palestinian structures in the first half of 2026 and issued 254 demolition notices. Since the escalation of the conflict in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli actions in the West Bank have intensified, including killings, arrests, displacement, home demolitions, land leveling, and illegal settlement expansion.