Israeli forces’ assault on Qabatiya continues into second day

Members of the Israeli forces take positions during a military raid in the West Bank town of Qabatiya, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 27 December 2025
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Israeli forces’ assault on Qabatiya continues into second day

  • Residents of Jenin town forced to evacuate, properties seized
  • Troops dig up roads, cut electricity supply

RAMALLAH: Israeli troops questioned residents, searched homes and damaged buildings and roads in Qabatiya, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, on Saturday as their operation in the town continued for a second day.

Some residents were forced to evacuate as soldiers took over a number of properties, including a school, to use as a base and to hold and question people, the Palestine News Agency WAFA reported.
Bulldozers were used to dig up streets and create roadblocks at key access points, while the electricity supply to several neighborhoods was cut off.
Also on Saturday, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles at the entrance to the town of Bil’in, west of Ramallah, but there were no reports of any injuries to people or damage to property, WAFA said.
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reported that Israeli forces and settlers carried out 2,144 attacks in November, mainly in the governorates of Ramallah and Al-Bireh (360), Hebron (348), Bethlehem (342) and Nablus (334).
Since early Saturday, Israeli forces have closed entrances to several villages and towns north and west of Ramallah, including Ni’lin and Kharbatha Bani Harith, causing traffic congestion and making it hard for Palestinians to move around.
Israeli soldiers also closed the Atara military checkpoint, making it harder for Palestinians to travel, especially for those going to and from villages northwest and west of Ramallah and from northern areas. A report by the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission in October said that the number of permanent and temporary checkpoints, including iron gates, across the Palestinian territories had risen to 916.
Israeli authorities have erected 243 iron checkpoint gates since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023.
On Dec. 20, Israel's military said that they killed a person in Qabatiya who “hurled a block toward the soldiers.” 
It later said that the killing was under review, after Palestinian media aired brief security footage in which the youth appears to emerge from an alley and is shot by troops as he approaches them without throwing anything.
An Israeli reservist soldier rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man ​as he prayed on a roadside in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, after earlier firing shots in the area, the Israeli military said.
"Footage was received of an armed individual running over a Palestinian individual," it said in a statement, adding the individual was ‌a reservist ‌and his military service ‌had been terminated.
The ​reservist ‌acted "in severe violation of his authority" and his weapon had been confiscated, the military said.

 


Israel’s Supreme Court suspends govt move to shut army radio

Updated 29 December 2025
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Israel’s Supreme Court suspends govt move to shut army radio

  • Israel’s Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending a government decision to shut down Galei Tsahal, the country’s decades-old and widely listened-to military radio station

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending a government decision to shut down Galei Tsahal, the country’s decades-old and widely listened-to military radio station.
In a ruling issued late Sunday, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit said the suspension was partly because the government “did not provide a clear commitment not to take irreversible steps before the court reaches a final decision.”
He added that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara supported the suspension.
The cabinet last week approved the closure of Galei Tsahal, with the shutdown scheduled to take effect before March 1, 2026.
Founded in 1950, Galei Tsahal is widely known for its flagship news programs and has long been followed by both domestic and foreign correspondents.
A government audience survey ranks it as Israel’s third most listened-to radio station, with a market share of 17.7 percent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged ministers to back the closure, saying there had been repeated proposals over the years to remove the station from the military, abolish it or privatise it.
But Baharav-Miara, who also serves as the government’s legal adviser and is facing dismissal proceedings initiated by the premier, has warned that closing the station raised “concerns about possible political interference in public broadcasting.”
She added that it “poses questions regarding an infringement on freedom of expression and of the press.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that Galei Tsahal broadcasts “political and divisive content” that does not align with military values.
He said soldiers, civilians and bereaved families had complained that the station did not represent them and undermined morale and the war effort.
Katz also argued that a military-run radio station serving the general public is an anomaly in democratic countries.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid had condemned the closure decision, calling it part of the government’s effort to suppress freedom of expression ahead of elections.
Israel is due to hold parliamentary elections in 2026, and Netanyahu has said he will seek another term as prime minister.

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