Jalal Bwaitel
AP / August 26, 2025
RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli forces carried out a rare daytime raid on Tuesday in the heart of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is headquartered. Dozens of Palestinians were wounded, according to local medics, as people throwing stones scattered after gunfire and tear gas.
______
Lines of Israeli military vehicles entered downtown Ramallah on Tuesday afternoon in a rare daytime raid on the largest Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent said there were 19 injuries during the raid, including injuries from live and rubber bullets, tear gas inhalation, and shrapnel. Israeli armoured vehicles entered a busy downtown intersection in the city, stopping traffic. A few dozen people attempted to throw rocks at the military vehicles. (AP video shot by Imad Isseid)
VIDEO CLICK HERE
______
Israel said it targeted money exchanges linked to Hamas. But the raid was likely to further undermine the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority as it seeks to capitalize on the recent decision by some major Western countries to recognize Palestinian statehood.
The Palestinian Authority, which is led by rivals of Hamas, did not immediately comment on the raid. It cooperates with Israel on security matters and exercises limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank. Many Palestinians view it as a corrupt and autocratic entity.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 58 people were wounded in the raid, eight of them by live fire and 14 by rubber-coated bullets. A few dozen people hurled rocks at a line of Israeli armoured vehicles as they rolled into the city center. The military said it detained five people “suspected of terrorist activity.”
Associated Press footage showed people running as tear gas canisters landed on busy streets and sidewalks, an Israeli soldier firing rifle shots into the air and people carrying a wounded youth to an ambulance.
Violence in the West Bank has surged during the war in Gaza, with the Israeli military carrying out large-scale operations targeting militants that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands. There has also been a rise in Israeli settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
Israeli forces routinely operate in Ramallah and other cities administered by the Palestinian Authority, but daytime raids into downtown are rare.
__________
Israeli raid on Ramallah leaves 33 Palestinians wounded
TNA Staff
The New Arab / August 26, 2025
Israeli forces stormed Ramallah and raided an exchange office, injuring dozens of people, amid further raids in Jerusalem and across the West Bank
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Tuesday that 33 Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces stormed Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, using live fire, rubber bullets and tear gas.
Among the wounded was a 13-year-old boy shot in the abdomen with live rounds and rushed into surgery.
During the raid, Israeli forces entered the headquarters of Ajjouli Exchange Company in central Ramallah, confiscated all contents and arrested several employees. Soldiers posted an order on the door declaring the company “illegal” and banned from operating.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams treated 58 people in Ramallah, including eight wounded by live fire, 14 hit with rubber bullets, five with shrapnel, and 31 suffering from tear gas suffocation.
It confirmed that “a 71-year-old man was evacuated from the produce market to hospital” and that a Palestinian was shot in the hand at al-Manara Square. The society also reported five cases of suffocation among women, including two pregnant, in the same area.
Local sources told The New Arab’s Arabic edition Al-Araby al-Jadeed that a special Israeli unit first infiltrated the city centre, followed by large reinforcements that spread through the streets and al-Manara Square.
They said troops arrested a child, an elderly man who was wounded, and a taxi driver during the operation.
The same sources added that Israeli forces “fired rubber-coated bullets at the vehicle of a crew from Jordan’s Roya TV while they covered the raid,” though no injuries were reported.
Organisers of a prisoners’ sit-in and a demonstration at the al-Bireh Cultural Centre demanding the return of bodies of Palestinians killed by Israel said they were forced to evacuate due to the raid.
In Jerusalem, groups of Israelis entered Al-Aqsa Mosque under police protection on Tuesday morning. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that dozens of settlers stormed the mosque, and performed provocative Jewish rituals while singing loudly.
The incursions followed a mass gathering of tens of thousands of Israelis at the Western Wall on Monday evening, called by the settler-run Western Wall Heritage Foundation to hold prayers throughout September ahead of the Jewish New Year on 23 September.
The foundation said it would erect 19 platforms at the Wall for the prayers and encourage tours of the Old City.
Al-Araby al-Jadeed also cited Hassan Mlihhat, coordinator of the Bedouin rights group al-Bedour, who said settlers attacked the Shakara community near Duma, south of Nablus, at dawn Tuesday, “targeting citizens and their property”. He added that such nightly attacks have escalated since the announcement of the E1 settlement plan.
Mlihhat said Israeli forces arrested Muadh Hammadah from Masafer Yatta after villagers repelled a settler raid, while settlers – with army protection – stole 20 camels from a Bedouin family on Monday night. He said soldiers also detained foreign activists and prevented them from filming.
In Hebron, Al-Araby al-Jadeed reported that Israeli special forces arrested a Palestinian National Security officer inside Cairo Amman Bank. Nine army jeeps entered Bab al-Zawiya area, according to merchant committee head Yousef Abu Aisha, who described a tense atmosphere around the markets.
Elsewhere near Idhna, west of Hebron/Al-Khalil, Palestinians were injured after soldiers assaulted them and fired stun grenades. Israeli forces also carried out further raids and arrests across the West Bank.
