Israeli forces demolish Palestinian house near Salfit

The house, which was under construction, is located in Kafr Ad-Dik, a town west of Salfit. (WAFA)
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Updated 21 January 2026
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Israeli forces demolish Palestinian house near Salfit

  • The house, which was under construction, belonged to Sami Samir Naji
  • Israeli authorities conducted a total of 538 demolitions last year

LONDON: Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian house under construction in Kafr Ad-Dik, a town west of Salfit in the northern occupied West Bank, on Wednesday.

Israeli troops, accompanied by military bulldozers, stormed the town and proceeded to the Sha’ab area, where they began demolishing a house that was under construction belonging to Sami Samir Naji, according to the Wafa news agency.

The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reported that Israeli authorities conducted a total of 538 demolitions last year, which destroyed 1,400 structures. This included 304 inhabited homes, 74 uninhabited homes, 270 economic facilities, and 490 agricultural facilities. The demolitions primarily took place in the governorates of Hebron, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Tubas, and Nablus, Wafa added. 

Excluding East Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, there are about 3 million Palestinians and 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank.


More than 100 Palestinians detained in West Bank since start of Ramadan, including women, children

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More than 100 Palestinians detained in West Bank since start of Ramadan, including women, children

  • Arrests by Israelis accompanied by extensive field interrogation

RAMALLAH: Israeli forces have detained more than 100 Palestinians from the West Bank since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, including women, children, and former prisoners, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society reported on Sunday.

The organization said the detentions coincided with Israel’s announcement of the intensification of such actions during Ramadan, with recent settler attacks providing cover for widespread detentions across most West Bank governorates, including Jerusalem. Many detainees from Jerusalem have been barred from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque.

A statement pointed out that arrests by Israelis are accompanied by extensive field interrogation which often targets all sections of Palestinian society.

Documented violations accompanying detentions include severe beatings, organized terror campaigns against detainees and their families, destruction and looting of homes, confiscation of vehicles, money and gold, demolition of family homes, use of family members as hostages, employment of prisoners as human shields, and extrajudicial executions.

The society stressed that Israel exploits detention campaigns to expand settlement activity in the West Bank, with settlers serving as a key tool to impose a new reality.

The Palestinian Detainees Affairs Commission has revealed harrowing details of the abuses faced by Palestinian prisoner Mohammed Wajih Mahamid from Jenin during his incarceration in Israeli prisons.

The commission said that on Nov. 15, 2023, Mahamid was severely beaten on his right knee with a baton used by prison guards, causing a serious injury that left him unable to walk without crutches.

He was beaten again on the same knee on March 29, 2025, resulting in severe swelling which was later confirmed to be a fracture. Despite his condition, the prison authorities only provided painkillers and refused to transfer him to hospital, maintaining a policy of deliberate medical neglect.

The commission stressed that these abuses reflected the harsh reality faced by Palestinian detainees, who are deprived of basic human rights, medical treatment and care.