Tensions escalate in the occupied West Bank... as Israel's extremist security minister raids cells in Palestinian women's prisons

Clashes between Israeli settlers and the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank are escalating amid warnings that the situation is spiraling out of control, while occupation forces continue shelling and firing in scattered areas of the Gaza Strip, in continuous violations of the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli authorities issued an order to seize 37 dunams of land in the city of Beitunia, in the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate of the occupied West Bank, with the aim of expanding a military base established on the city’s lands.

The Anti-Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority stated in a statement yesterday that the military order covers a number of plots and the roads between them. Military maps show that the targeted area forms a contiguous landmass connected to the existing military base and is located near the Horon settlement established on the governorate’s lands.

The Authority emphasized that “although confiscation orders do not formally transfer land ownership, they strip owners of their right to possession and cultivation, placing the land under direct military control.” It clarified that this order reveals an expansion of the military infrastructure linked to protecting settlements and securing their surroundings, imposing spatial and “security” costs on Palestinian lands and their owners to sustain and expand the settlement project.

Meanwhile, Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a video posted after his visit to the Damoun prison near Haifa that he is “proud” of the reduced detention conditions for Palestinian women in Israeli prisons. Ben-Gvir appeared in the clip, published via his social media accounts, speaking to three Palestinian women from Palestinian Islamic Jihad during his raid on the prison cells, which took place several weeks ago, according to a statement issued by his party, Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power).

Ben-Gvir addressed the detainees in Hebrew, with a woman translating, saying, “I am proud that we have reduced your detention conditions to the minimum necessary. The summer camp conditions that existed in Israeli prisons are over. This is the situation you will live in, and I am responsible for everything.” He added, “Anyone who harms Israeli hostages will not receive conditions like those in a hotel.”

Ben-Gvir asked the Palestinian detainees about their detention conditions. One of them replied that they are “very bad, with constant repression day and night... diseases are widespread, and we do not receive treatment at all.”

In Gaza, three Palestinians, including a child, were killed and others injured following an Israeli airstrike and shooting operations in various parts of the Strip.

Health authorities in the Strip said in a press statement that two Palestinians were killed and others injured when an Israeli drone targeted a civilian gathering west of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The third victim died later from injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Amal neighborhood west of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The authorities added that among the dead was a three-year-old child, describing the injuries of several Palestinians as ranging from moderate to severe.

In the north of the Strip, health authorities reported that a Palestinian girl was shot by Israeli forces in the Jabalia refugee camp, and a young man was also shot by Israeli forces in the Tawam area northwest of Gaza City.