Israel soldiers and settlers raid homes, assault Palestinians

Israeli forces seized Palestinian-owned vehicles and solar panels this morning in the Jordan Valley village of Ibziq, north of the occupied West Bank city of Tubas, according to Wafa news agency.

The Jordan Valley, which accounts for almost a third of the occupied West Bank, is home to 65,000 Palestinians who live in 28 villages.

Since 1967, when the Israeli army occupied the West Bank, Israel has transferred at least 11,000 of its Jewish citizens to the Jordan Valley. Some of the settlements in which they live were built almost entirely on private Palestinian land.

Abdul Majeed Khdeirat, head of Ibziq village council, said Israeli forces raided the village and prevented the villagers from leaving their houses as they stormed into and ransacked houses to confiscate a number of vehicles, tractors and solar panels.

Meanwhile, a 48-year-old Palestinian from the village of Al-Sawiya was beaten with rocks at night by Israeli settlers, confirmed the Palestinian official in charge of the settlement file in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Douglas.

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He said Jihad Jazi is suffering from injuries, including fractures and bruises, after settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Eli assaulted him while he was with his wife checking on his lands.

Jihad is currently in the hospital receiving treatment, Wafa reported.

Attacks, assaults and acts of vandalism are frequently carried out on Palestinian towns and villages in the Israeli-occupied West Bank both by illegal settlers and soldiers.

Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.