As part of activities marking the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack, the Israeli military has destroyed memorials to Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, including those accused of killing Israelis or who died in clashes.
The military said the operation targeted monuments it considers memorials to terrorists. The demolitions were carried out in several parts of the West Bank, although the army did not explicitly connect the operation to the anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
In the northern Jenin area, troops destroyed a stone memorial and removed commemorative posters, according to local officials.
In the town of Yaabad, soldiers demolished a memorial dedicated to Yasser Hamdouni, while photographs of Palestinians described by local authorities as martyrs were removed from several locations across Jenin.
Hamdouni had been accused of killing an Israeli settler in 2003 and died in prison in 2016 while serving a life sentence.
For Palestinians, those killed by Israeli forces or who die in Israeli custody are often commemorated as martyrs. Stone memorials and posters honouring them are a common sight in towns and villages across the West Bank.
In Nablus, Israeli forces also carried out raids, destroying five memorials in different parts of the city and arresting scores of residents, according to the city’s deputy mayor.
Israeli politicians have repeatedly condemned such monuments, arguing that they glorify attacks against Israelis. But the military’s destruction of memorials remains relatively unusual, particularly in areas nominally administered by the Palestinian Authority.
The operation was accompanied by a separate demolition in Beit Duqqu, northwest of Jerusalem, where Israeli forces destroyed the home of a Palestinian man accused of killing an Israeli settler last month.
Local officials said troops entered the town in the early hours and notified residents of the planned demolition. An AFP journalist later saw an Israeli military bulldozer clearing the rubble of the destroyed house as heavily armed forces maintained a presence in the area.
Israel routinely demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks, saying the policy is intended to deter further violence.
Rights groups, however, have condemned the practice as collective punishment, arguing that the demolitions can also harm family members who are not accused of wrongdoing.
The latest actions come amid a sharp escalation in violence across the West Bank since the October 7 attack and the subsequent Gaza war.
An AFP tally based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry shows that Israeli forces or settlers have killed 1,113 Palestinians in the West Bank since the conflict began.
Israeli figures, meanwhile, show that at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations over the same period.
