What is happening in the occupied West Bank?
Israeli military raids, killings, mass arrests and land grabs in the occupied West Bank have become a near-daily occurrence since the Hamas-led October attack in 2023. Here’s a recap:
- According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 982 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war in the Palestinian territory.
- The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says more than 10,700 Palestinians are currently in Israeli jails, including about 3,600 who are detained without charge.
- Since October 7, 2023 and as of May 31, 2025, 6,463 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced following the demolition of their homes by Israeli forces, according to OCHA.
- That figure does not include the approximately 40,000 Palestinians who have been displaced from three refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem, as a result of heavily militarised Israeli operations in the north of the occupied West Bank since January 2025.
- Israel continues to expand and consolidate illegal settlements across the West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the State of Israel. Earlier this month, Israel’s parliament passed a symbolic vote to apply sovereignty to the West Bank. While the motion has no legal implications, it could place the issue of annexation on the agenda of future debates in parliament.
Israeli settlers release livestock into Palestinian villages
Footage verified by Al Jazeera shows Israeli settlers releasing livestock into Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
One clip shows an armed settler grazing sheep near a Palestinian home in the village of Shaab al-Batm, while another shows settlers releasing sheep into Khirbet al-Qawawis.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian government body, said in a statement published on Facebook that 1,821 attacks were carried out by Israeli forces and settlers in July, including 300 incidents in Hebron alone.
The commission said the attacks included “armed assaults on Palestinian villages, imposing facts on the ground, field executions, vandalism, land bulldozing, uprooting trees, property seizures, closures, and barriers that sever Palestinian geography”.
US House speaker visits illegal settlement in occupied West Bank
Mike Johnson has visited the illegal settlement of Ariel in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom published a picture of the speaker of the US House of Representatives and his wife, Kelly Lary, next to Ariel Mayor Yair Chetboun. The publication said the image was taken after the two planted a tree.
According to Axios, it was a private visit organised by a pro-Israel advocacy group.
