On January 19, 2026, Israeli occupation forces launched an unprecedented offensive in the southern area of occupied Hebron City, carrying out widespread detentions, imposing a curfew, and closing several roads with several ways: mud barriers, iron gates, damaged civilian vehicles, concrete blocks.... deploying hundreds of soldiers and heavy machinery in a move that has paralysed the city’s southern districts. Israeli forces closed the Tariq bin Ziyad roundabout with cement blocks and earth mounds. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported at least seven arrests. Israeli occupation forces arrest the two children Wasim Al-Mutawer and Murad Al-Faroukh, and the young man Mohammad Darwish Halaika, during a raid on the town of Sa’ir north of Hebron. The army announced that the operation would continue for several days, with the Shin Bet security service and police participating. In a joint statement issued on Monday, the Israeli army and the internal security service, Shin Bet, confirmed the offensive, stating it aims to “thwart terror infrastructure” and confiscate weapons in the Jebel Johar area. According to Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent Montaser Nassar there is a total lockdown: *“We are in the so-called southern region of Hebron, which has been under a curfew since dawn. There is an intensive deployment of occupation forces … including bulldozers and tracked armoured vehicles.We witnessed tracked armoured vehicles … the last time we saw these in Hebron was during the second Intifada during [Israeli] Operation Defensive Shield,”* While the army cited “counterterrorism goals”, Nassar observed soldiers installing new metal barriers, warning of a long-term tightening of control: *"They brought in iron gates a short while ago, and this is the dangerous part. It seems that what is happening on the ground is a prelude to dividing the already divided.”* **Joint statement by the IDF Spokesperson and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet):** *"IDF, Shin Bet, police, and Border Police forces launched a large-scale counterterrorism operation overnight in the city of Hebron, within the Yehuda Brigade area. Security forces, led by the Yehuda Brigade, began an operation overnight (Sunday) in the Jabal Johar neighborhood of Hebron to dismantle terrorist infrastructure, suppress the illegal possession of weapons, and strengthen security in the area. The operation will continue for several days, during which explosions may be heard and there will be heightened movement of IDF forces in the area. Security forces will continue proactive operations to thwart terrorism throughout Judea and Samaria".* **Ibrahimi Mosque under pressure:** The raid is taking place less than half a kilometre from the Ibrahimi Mosque, following recent Israeli moves to strip Palestinian authority over the site by the decision to ban the director of the Ibrahimi Mosque for 15 days. The management of the site is being transferred to the Israeli Civil Administration.

During the night of January 17–18, 2026, Israeli settlers carried out a pogrom on the Bedouin community of Khillet al-Sidra, near the town of Mikhmas (Mukhmas), northeast of Jerusalem (al-Quds). Israeli settlers from the close illegal outpost launched a wide-scale attack on the community, setting fire set fire to at least eight homes and two vehicles, firing live ammunition at the Bedouin encampment before assaulting people and vandalizing property. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society confirmed that its medical teams treated at least two Palestinians injured during the attack near Mikhmas. Social media footage and photographs documented extensive property damage, including burned structures and vehicles. The Palestinian Authority stated that 2 Palestinians and 2 foreign activists were hospitalized after attack on Khallet al-Sidra. Security camera footage sent to The Times of Israel by Rabbi Arik Ascherman, an Israeli human rights activist, showed individuals walking around the encampment and setting tents on fire. In the footage, which was timestamped shortly before 10 p.m., the sound of gunfire can be heard, followed by people shouting before the settlers stormed the encampment. An unnamed human rights activist told Haaretz that the settlers beat them with clubs and rocks for a number of minutes and that their possessions were burned in the attack : *“I am in terrible pain and I am bleeding. The settlers, about 20 of them, arrived while some of us were sleeping. They beat us with clubs and rocks, inside the houses and then outside them, and set the houses on fire and chased us around,” “They beat me in the legs, head and groin with clubs for several minutes. They beat us so hard,”. “Everything here is gone. Everything is burned, even our passports that were inside. Everything was set on fire.”* According to Rabi Ascherman, the assailants came from the illegal outpost of Kol Mevaser, one of several settler communities that have encircled Mukhmas over the past few months. It took Israeli security forces two hours to arrive at the scene from the time they were first contacted. He said the outpost has a standing demolition order against it, and Israeli security forces have dismantled it repeatedly but the settlers have kept rebuilding until “the forces gave up.” The assault formed part of an ongoing pattern of settler violence aimed at forcibly displacing Bedouin communities from strategically located land, often carried out with the presence or protection of Israeli forces. The IDF said military, police and Border Police troops who arrived at the scene located an Israeli vehicle that was apparently used by the assailants. Inside the car were several clubs, the military said. Palestinian, Israeli and foreign nationals were injured in the attack, and they were carrying out searches of the area to try and find the attackers. **Broader context:** Israeli settlers carried out coordinated attacks across several areas of the occupied West Bank, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces. At least six Palestinians, including a child, were injured.  *Aftermath of an Israeli settlers’ attack on the Bedouin community of Khallet al-Sidra, northeast of al-Quds, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on January 17, 2026.* **Previous attack** A similar wide-scale [attack](/event/2376) was carried out last November in the same area. The attack was clearly coordinated with the Israeli forces and the incident was not investigated by Israeli authorities.

On January 16, 2026, Israeli settlers, under the protection of the Israeli army, stormed an area south of al-Mughayyir, neighbourhood of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. Since early morning, settler herders have stormed the Khalayel area south of the village, firing live rounds and repeatedly targeting residents, the Abu Hamam family, and their property. The attacks included a direct assault by one settler herder against the Abu Hammam family. During the three hour raid at Abu Hamam’s, Israeli forces took the security cameras and forbade Palestinians and internationals from eating. All four internationals were arrested under false accusations of assault of a minor and conduct to violate public peace while one is accused of use of poison to commit a crime and two are accused of attempt of injury to an animal. Locals report that settlers also opened fire in the vicinity of the property after the arrests. Then, Israeli forces stormed the village, leading to confrontations during which live ammunition was fired heavily at residents. The attack killed Mohammed Saad Na’san, 14, who was hit in the back and chest. The Israeli military said in a statement that troops fatally shot Naasan because he was “running towards them carrying a rock”. **Name of the martyr:** Mohammed Saad Na’san, 14 On Saturday, thousands of mourners take part in the funeral procession of Mohammad Saad Naasan, amid widespread anger over the continued targeting of minors during Israeli military raids **Aftermath: Israeli raid on January 17 and 18:** 0n January 17, 2026, Israeli forces raided the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, since afternoon. They arrested a Palestinian woman and an international activist, detaining Hidaya Rizq from her family's farmstead in the al-Khalayel area, south of the village, while forcing other activists and residents present in the area to leave. Whil a settler blocked an agricultural road, preventing residents from accessing their land. According to the Deputy Director of Al-Mughair Village Council, Marzouq Abu Naim, they attacked the mourning house of the martyred child Muhammad Al-Naasan, raided a number of houses, and turned the house of citizen Hamza Abu Aliya into a military barracks, after forcing his family members to leave it, in light of the difficult weather conditions. They assaulted the child Nader Abu Aliya, who has special needs, and tried to force him to walk, despite his physical disability. They also attacked Al-Badr Tiles Company and its owner, confiscating the company’s cameras and removing their recordings. The incursions into the village have caused the suspension of school attendance for students. **Broader context: harssements against the Abu Hamam family:** The Abu Hamam family has faced months of coordinated intimidation by Israeli forces and settlers aimed at forcing them off their land. Settlers regularly graze sheep on the family’s and neighbors’ land, damaging olive trees, stealing water, and dismantling fences, with the Israeli army allegedly enabling or ignoring these actions. A particular settler has repeatedly harassed the family and nearby Palestinian residents, destroying property to allow livestock to damage olive groves. Israeli forces conducted repeated raids searching for activists, while settlers continued to move freely and harass Palestinians without consequence. International solidarity activists staying with the family or its protective presence have been targeted: 1. On December 7, 2025, a settler attack injured the family matriarch, a 13-year-old child, and four international activists. 2. On December 12, 2025, activists were arrested at the property under a military area order that did not include the Abu Hamam home. 3. On December 18, two US activists were deported after a week in detention. 4. On December 30, three international activists were violently detained, held incommunicado for hours, and later transferred to a police station. 5. On December 21, the family was threatened with house demolition if they continued hosting international supporters, as settlers simultaneously chased activists nearby. The overall pattern of actions is described as an effort to forcibly displace the Abu Hamam family, facilitating settlement expansion linking areas from East Ramallah to South Nablus and the Jordan Valley.

On January 15, 2026, ## **In the Southern Gaza:** two Palestinian citizens were killed on Thursday afternoon by Israeli forces in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. They opened fire at civilians near Al-Alam junction, south of the Mawasi area of Rafah, killing two Palestinians. Efforts to retrieve the two bodies were hindered due to the complex situation in the area. ## **In the Central Gaza:** At least six Palestinians, including a young girl, were killed and others injured on Thursday evening after the Israeli army bombed two homes in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza: **The army targeted a house belonging to the Al-Hawli family**. The house collapsed on its residents, killing four people, including 16-year-old Qamar Raafat Abu Samra, and injuring dozens. Emergency and civil defense teams rushed to rescue the victims and transport the wounded. **Name of the names martyrs:** 1. Mohammed al-Hawli, one of the leaders of Al-Qassam Brigades and his family in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. 2. Qamar Raafat Abu Samra, 16-year-old In a separate strike, Israeli warplanes hit another home belonging **to the Al-Jaru family** near the Akkila station in the Al-Bassa area west of Deir al-Balah, killing two young men and injuring another. Before midnight, an evacuation warning has just been issued for a residential block in the central Gaza Strip, in the city of Deir al-Balah, in preparation for it being bombed by the occupation forces. Hundreds of civilians, including children, women, and the elderly, slept in the streets, shivering from the cold, after being evacuated from their homes near the Abu Samra roundabout in Deir al-Balah following threats of bombardment by Israeli occupation forces. Their suffering continues. Around midnight, Israeli occupation warplanes bombed a home for **the Al-Khatib family in Al-Nusierat camp** in central Gaza, killing at least five Palestinians, including children. An US-made Hellfire missile remnant were found after a strike in Nuseirat Camp that reportedly killed PIJ Al-Quds Commander Ashraf Al-Khatib Abu Adnan and his wife. He is likely the "commander" in the PIJ mentioned by the Israeli military in their statement. The attack took place approx. 2,88 kilometers west of the formal yellow line (https://idf.il/158008/) **Names reported of the martyrs:** 1. Ashraf Al-Khatib Abu Adnan — identified as a leader in Saraya al-Quds (the Al-Quds Brigades). 2. His wife (name not specified in initial reports). 3. Ahmed Nafiz Ibrahim Abed (33) — later reported to have died of wounds from the same strike. ### **In the northern Gaza:** On the evening, at 8:00, 6 injured by Israeli forces’ gunfire in Halawa Refugee Camp, east of Jabalia Camp in northern Gaza Strip. ### **Gaza City:** Reports are circulating about a massacre following the targeting of the area surrounding Al-Yazji Bakery in the western parts of Gaza City. Three police officers were killed after Israeli aircraft targeted a police checkpoint near Al-Nabulsi Junction, west of Gaza City. ## **Daily toll:** The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on January 16, 2026, that the daily toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip recorded 14 martyrs (12 new and 2 retrieved) and 18 injuries in the preceding 24 hours, with many victims still unreachable under rubble

On January 15, 2026, Israeli forces carried out raids on Dura? southwest of Hebron (al-Khalil), in the southern West Bank. Israeli forces surrounded the home of Khaled Hassan al-Fasfous and opened fire on him, wounding him. The Israeli soldiers prevented PPRCS ambulance crews from reaching al-Fasfous before detaining him.

On January 14, 2026, a nurse was killed Wednesday by Israeli occupation forces east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The nurse Hatem Abu Saleh, who worked at Nasser Medical Complex, was killed by Israeli fire near the Bani Suheila roundabout east of Khan Younis. **Testimony of Nizar_Gaza_🇵🇸 @nizar_almasre:** *"With deep sorrow and a heart heavy with grief, I mourn the martyrdom of my dear friend and neighbor, the nurse Hatem Abu Saleh — "Abu Diyaa." I testify that he was a man of noble character and great kindness — the neighbor I came to know during my displacement, who shared my space and pain. He was more than a neighbor; he was a brother not born of my mother. He was the kind nurse I used to visit at Nasser Hospital — we’d talk about the patients, about people, about life in the shadow of death. Yesterday, he went to check on his destroyed home, hoping to collect some winter clothes for his children and a few simple belongings… but he was targeted by a drone and killed with no crime — as if kindness had become a crime. I don’t know how I’ll wake up tomorrow without hearing him say “Good morning,” without his smile that gave me strength. You broke my heart, Abu Diyaa… You left behind a void that cannot be filled. May Allah have mercy on your soul, my dear friend💔😭"*

On January 12? 2026, in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, Israeli bulldozers demolished a water well and a poultry structure in the ath‑Thaher area. Heavy machinery also destroyed a private access road leading to a home to allow military vehicles to reach the demolition site.

**Blatant Israeli ceasefire violation:** Three Palestinians were killed on Monday when an Israeli drone targeted a group of civilians in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Local sources reported that an Israeli drone dropped a bomb on a group of civilians south of Khan Younis, killing three people identified as 1. Wissam Abdullah Salem al-Amour, 2. Mahmoud Subhi Breika, and 3. Atef Samir al-Bayouk (other sources spelled his name as Suliman Al-Bayouk) A woman was also wounded by Israeli army gunfire in the Batn al-Samin area, south of Khan Younis. **Aftermath of the winter storm in Gaza:** Thousands of displaced families are forced to live in unsafe locations after Israel destroyed their homes and continues to block reconstruction, turning storms into yet another deadly threat in Gaza. Several incidents highlight the growing danger of war-damaged homes and shelters collapsing. 4 martyrs, including two women, a child, and an elderly man: 1. Hiyam Sherir (33) died when the wall of her home caved in due to heavy rain and strong winds on Al-Thawra Street, west of Gaza. Three members of the same family — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old granddaughter and his daughter-in-law — were killed when an 8-meter-high (26-foot-high) wall collapsed onto their tent in a coastal area along the Mediterranean shore of Gaza City. At least five others were injured. A wall from a nearby building (Organza Hall) collapsed onto tents sheltering displaced families in the Al-Shalihat (Chalets) area west of Gaza City as a polar storm swept through the Strip. Names of the martyrs: 1. Mohammed Al-Abd Mohammed Hamouda, 72 years old 2. Duaa Mansour Hosni Hamouda, 40 years old 3. Rimas Bilal Hamouda, 15 years old “The world has allowed us to witness death in all its forms,” Bassel Hamouda said after the funeral. “It’s true the bombing may have temporarily stopped, but we have witnessed every conceivable cause of death in the world in the Gaza Strip.” **On January 13**, during the same storm, Gaza's civil defence announced the death of a young man after parts of al-Saraya Mosque in Gaza City fell on top of him, becoming the fifth victim of collapsing buildings and walls in the past 24 hours. **Name of the martyr:** 1. Saqr Al-Deeb Palestinian freed prisoner Mohammed Al-Basyouni is in critical condition at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah central Gaza Strip after falling from the fourth floor with his family when their tent, pitched on a rooftop, was blown off by strong winds. **Mohmmed Massry @MohmmedMas92 testimony:** *"A very painful piece of news. My friend Mohammed Al-Basyouni’s tent was blown away from the fourth floor of the shelter center, and he and his family suffered serious injuries; their condition is extremely critical.A week ago, Mohammed had moved his tent from the ground to the top of the building after it was flooded during the first low-pressure weather system, believing that placing it higher would protect it from being submerged by rainwater. However, the real shock came from the intensity of the winds, which tore the tent away and sent it flying, exposing him and his family to grave danger."* These deaths expose the deadly reality of displacement in Gaza, where families are forced to live in torn tents and beside unstable structures with no real protection.

## **Operation “Capital Shield” – January 2026** The “Capital Shield” operation was launched on the night of Sunday, 11 January 2026 / early 12 January 2026 in and around the Shuafat Refugee Camp near Jerusalem as a large-scale "security campaign" by Israeli police and Border Guard forces. It involved hundreds of Israeli police and Border Guard personnel carrying out coordinated security raids in the camp with the pretexted goal of "combating criminal elements, terrorism infrastructure, and maintaining order". Jerusalem District Police described “Capital Shield” as a strategic, ongoing operational program to increase security and law enforcement presence in the area around Jerusalem, including refugee localities like Shuafat. Israel Police @israelpolice stated on X on 12 janv. "Overnight, Jerusalem District police and Border Police operated in Shuafat as part of the “Shield of the Capital” framework, targeting crime and terror. Eight suspects were arrested, and illegal firearms, ammunition, drugs, and military-style equipment were seized". During the raids in the refugee camp on 12 January 2026, at least eight people were arrested and according to the Israeli press "weapons, ammunition, drugs, and stolen military equipment were seized". **Perpetrators:** 1. According to Israel.com *"This is a large-scale operational plan that was formulated upon the assumption of the position of **Jerusalem District Commander, Major General Avshalom Peled**, as a strategic response to the need to strengthen sovereignty and deepen governance in the area surrounding Jerusalem and the villages adjacent to the fence. The operation focuses on offensive and proactive activity in the heart of the area, while combining precise intelligence with advanced operational capabilities, with the aim of increasing the personal security of all residents of Jerusalem in particular and Israel in general"*. According to Jerusalem Post, on January 12 by night, the Jerusalem district commander arrived at the Israel Border Police base in the Jerusalem perimeter to observe field operations, **accompanied by the Jerusalem perimeter commander, Deputy Commander Eran Levi.** "A new and significant phase in the defense of Jerusalem," Chief Avshalom Peled told Maariv. 2. Israeli police and Border Guard forces **January 14:** Israeli forces have stormed the Shuafat refugee camp in occupied Jerusalem for a third consecutive day, carrying out raids and arrests. Large numbers of soldiers, including undercover units, have entered the camp’s streets and neighborhoods, firing stun grenades and tear gas and raiding homes and shops. Local eyewitness accounts and social media footage show Israeli forces detaining several Palestinian youths and assaulting residents during these operations. They were seen arresting 8 residents at dawn. Later in the afternooon, dozens of police officers drove in the street of the camp, using loudspeakers for thraetening the residents: “To the residents of the Shuafat refugee camp, this is Captain Hilal. We have come to pay you a visit. Anyone who wants to meet me should come to me. Anyone who wags their tail, we will cut it off.” ## **Broader context:** Out of the 19 Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, Shu'fat Refugee Camp is unique in that it is located in the municipality of Jerusalem and is the responsibility of the Israeli state. The camp is a microcosm of the occupation evolving from ethnic cleansing, historical events and military control by raiding it several times by months. It is the only camp that is impacted by the Separation Wall and has a checkpoint guarded by the IDF. **The camp is surrounded on three sides by the Wall and the residents have to show ID to exit and enter.** 

On January 11, 2026, Israeli forces carried out a large-scale raid on the Old City of Nablus, in the Occupied West Bank (Nablus, as a Zone A city, is under PA administration, but its Old City and surrounding areas frequently see Israeli incursions, especially during military operations or raids). In the early hours of Sunday, Israeli forces temporarily detaining journalists, medics, and other residents. Israeli forces surrounded journalists in the al-Yasmina neighborhood as they covered the incursion, which involved live ammunition, extensive tear gas, and a full sealing-off of the Old City. Several media workers were threatened, ordered to leave, and briefly detained during the operation. Journalist Laith Ja‘ar suffered serious injuries from tear gas inhalation. **Medical personnel and worshippers targeted:** According to Ghassan Hamdan, director of the Medical Relief Society in Nablus, Israeli forces fired directly at two medics, who were not injured, and briefly detained them inside Al-Satoun Mosque. Dozens of worshippers had also been temporarily held in the mosque since dawn before being released. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 20 injuries in total: three from live bullets (transferred to Rafidia Governmental Hospital with moderate condition), one from a rubber bullet, one from assault by beating, and 15 cases of tear gas inhalation treated on-site. Ambulances were prevented from reaching a detained family in the Al-Yasmina Quarter, obstructing emergency medical access. **Military operation details:** Undercover Israeli special forces infiltrated the Al-Qaryun neighborhood inside the Old City, where they came under fire in an ambush, leaving one soldier wounded. Additional Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) units were deployed to both Al-Qaryun and al-Yasmina neighborhoods, previously associated with the “Areen al-Aswad” (Lion’s Den) organization. Forces were stationed across multiple neighborhoods and the Eastern Market area, firing live ammunition and deploying tear gas extensively. Citizens Luay Sha’ban and Hamido Zekari were arrested after the mosque in the area was besieged. A raid on the home of Sheikh Maher al-Kharraz resulted in the complete destruction of his house amidst a barrage of gunfire. The Palestinian Red Crescent coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross to evacuate dozens of worshippers trapped inside Al-Satoun Mosque and also assisted journalists and paramedics who were besieged in the Old City. In total, 12 worshippers were evacuated along with other relief personnel. By later Sunday, witnesses reported that Israeli forces had fully withdrawn from the Old City, leaving behind a scene of injuries, arrests, and destruction. **On January 12:** Sheikh Maher Kharraz, an elderly Palestinian man in his late 80s of age, was abducted by Israeli occupation forces in the morning after they raided his home in Nablus at dawn today, after they had raided his house the previous during their attack on the Old City and tampered with its contents. Sheikh Maher is a released prisoner, an elderly man who spent years in the occupation's prisons, and the father of the martyr Sa'ad Al-Khara'z from the Al-Qassam Brigades. **According to Jerusalem Post:** "Israeli security forces have arrested the suspect in a Palestinian shooting attack that wounded a soldier during a counterterror operation in Shechem (Nablus). The suspect, identified as Hamas operative Zaid Haraz, was arrested on Monday morning following a day-long manhunt. Additional suspects who assisted Haraz’s escape were also detained. On Sunday morning, the operation in Nablus, West Bank, left an IDF soldier moderately wounded as a result of a terrorist's gunfire. After the incident, the IDF started a manhunt, which ended today with Haraz's arrest. The soldier was taken to the hospital for medical care, and his family was notified. West Bank terrorist violence against the IDF has been a current reality in the territories."