Hebron: Israeli forces on Friday detained two journalists, two foreign solidarity activists, and a Palestinian anti-settlement activist in the southern West Bank city of Hebron while they were documenting attacks carried out by illegal settlers, according to local sources.
According to Anadolu Agency, Osama Makhamera, a Palestinian activist involved in resisting settlement expansion, reported that Israeli forces stormed the Rujum al-Aala area after illegal settlers attacked residents of the Masafer Yatta region, south of Hebron. The forces detained two journalists working with a foreign media outlet, along with two foreign activists and Rateb al-Jbour, coordinator of the popular and national committees opposing Israeli settlement activity in southern Hebron, as they were documenting the settler assault.
Makhamera noted that the detainees were taken to a nearby Israeli settlement. Al-Jbour was later released, while the fate of the journalists and foreign activists remains unknown. He highlighted that the Rujum al-Aala community has faced repeated attacks by illegal settlers, with incidents escalating in recent days. These assaults have resulted in injuries to residents, including women and children, extensive damage to homes and property, destruction of agricultural crops, and obstruction of residents' access to farmland and grazing areas.
The Palestinian Authority's Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reported that illegal settlers carried out approximately 4,723 attacks across the West Bank in 2025, leading to the deaths of 14 Palestinians and the forced displacement of 13 Bedouin communities comprising 1,090 people. Official Palestinian figures indicate that the number of illegal settlers in the West Bank reached approximately 770,000 by the end of 2024, living in more than 180 settlements and 256 settlement outposts.
Israel has intensified its military operations in the West Bank since launching its war on the Gaza Strip on October 8, 2023, involving killings, arrests, forced displacement, and settlement expansion. Palestinians argue that this trajectory aims to pave the way for the formal annexation of the occupied territory. More than 1,112 Palestinians have been killed, about 11,500 wounded, and over 21,000 detained during this period, according to Palestinian estimates.
The International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal in a landmark opinion in July 2024 and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.