A fresh wave of Israeli occupation military raids and settler violence swept across the occupied West Bank on Monday, with Palestinian communities from Jenin to the Jordan Valley coming under escalating pressure, while political tremors within Israel’s ruling Likud party signaled potential upheaval in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle.
Israeli settler children under army cover attack a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance evacuating a patient in the Tel Al-Rumeida area in downtown Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/woeKzirdWQ
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 18, 2026
In the latest Israeli aggression, Israeli occupation forces conducted sweeping raids in the areas of Aqraba, Jericho, Nablus, and the vicinity of the Arab American University in Jenin, alongside incursions into the Shuweika suburb north of Tulkarm. Three Palestinians were arrested during separate raids in Tuqu’ and Abu Dis, while two others sustained gunshot wounds when forces stormed the town of Ajul, northwest of Ramallah, according to local sources.
Breaking | Israeli occupation forces abduct Palestinians while storming the town of Tuqu', southeast of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/IH0b6hUHKh
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 17, 2026
The violence was not confined to military operations. In the northern Jordan Valley, Israeli settlers staged provocative tours in Khirbet Samra and deliberately vandalized the water pipeline supplying the communities of Yarza and Ras al-Ahmar, east of Tubas a move that further threatens already scarce water resources in the arid region.
Meanwhile, settlers maintained a suffocating siege on three homes in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, now in its tenth consecutive day. The prolonged blockade has drawn condemnation from humanitarian organizations, with UNICEF warning of acute risks of forced displacement amid what it described as “a systematic escalation of settlement activity that threatens the security and livelihoods of Palestinians.”
On the political front, preliminary results from the Likud party primaries delivered unexpected shocks to the Israeli establishment. Energy Minister Eli Cohen emerged as the leading vote-getter, followed by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, according to initial tallies.
The results spelled trouble for several high-profile ministers and sitting lawmakers, with Agriculture Minister and former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter among those facing the prospect of being pushed out of the Knesset entirely a stunning reversal for a figure with decades of security establishment credentials.
Critics within the party accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of attempting to suppress voter turnout, fearing that diminished participation could reflect waning support for his leadership. Turnout was ultimately recorded at approximately 54 percent, a figure Israeli commentators described as underwhelming given the high stakes of the internal contest.
Political analysts noted that the lukewarm turnout did not capture the true intensity of the competition within Likud, attributing the muted response to the “difficult political and security circumstances” currently facing the party and the country at large. The internal shake-up comes as Netanyahu navigates a complex security environment and mounting coalition pressures, with the primary results likely to reshape the dynamics of his ruling alliance in the coming weeks.
Source: Palestinian media (edited and translated by Al-Manar)