The Israeli army today raided several urban centres in the occupied West Bank, where tensions are rising amid the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Escorted by armoured vehicles, the military stormed early this morning into the northern city of Qalqilya, where they deployed in its old town, local media reported.

Uniformed soldiers also entered towns in the southern governorate of Hebron, including the capital of the same name.

They entered Dura, Ithna, Beit Awa, Surif and Deir Samet, according to the official Wafa news agency.

In Tulkarem, a woman and a young man were arrested in the morning during a similar operation, which included the destruction of a printing press.

Wafa reported that soldiers also attacked the villages of Sebastia and Aqraba in the northern governorate of Nablus.

According to official figures, Israeli security forces and settlers have killed 561 Palestinians, including 160 children, in the West Bank since the new cycle of violence erupted on 7 October.

During that period, more than 5,300 people were injured and another 9,500 were arrested in the West Bank.

This week, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee reported that Israeli troops and settlers carried out 7,681 attacks in the West Bank during the first half of 2024.

The head of the institution, Muayyad Shaaban, detailed in a report on the subject that the attacks included land confiscation, colonial expansion, forced displacement, extrajudicial killings, destruction of infrastructure, beatings and sabotage.

From the beginning of 2024 until the end of June, the country’s authorities approved 39 settlement expansion plans in the West Bank and 44 in occupied East Jerusalem.