Two Settlers Arrested in Attack on Palestinians Near Aqrabah

Israeli police and the Shin Bet security agency arrested two suspects late Saturday night in connection with an attack by Israelis against Palestinians near Aqrabah, south of Nablus, approximately one month ago. A gag order remains in effect, preventing the disclosure of investigation details or the identities of the detainees. A joint statement from the police and Shin Bet indicated the arrests were part of a joint investigation into "extremist violence" in the Aqrabah area, managed by a special police unit and the Shin Bet. The military police are also participating in the ongoing investigation. The official statement did not specify the nature of the attack or the detainees' identities due to the gag order, which was extended by the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court last Thursday and will remain in place until October 29. Army Radio reported that the case involves an attack by settlers on Palestinians about a month prior, identifying the detainees as "two known individuals" within settler circles in the northern occupied West Bank, without providing further details. Current information does not clarify the role of each detainee or if further arrests are expected. Police and Shin Bet have not released details about the victims or the circumstances of the attack. In a separate incident, Israeli police opened two investigations after discovering two suspicious objects, each bearing Palestinian flags, in the central occupied West Bank over the weekend and Sunday morning. Explosives experts and army forces handled the objects, which were later determined to be dummy devices, not actual explosives. These developments coincide with a broad Israeli arrest campaign in the West Bank, where the army arrested 18 Palestinians, including released prisoners, on Sunday during raids in Tulkarm, Jenin, Bethlehem, and Hebron. The Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Office reported that nine Palestinians, including former prisoners, were arrested in Tulkarm governorate, while five others, also including released prisoners, were arrested in Jenin governorate. Two Palestinians were arrested in Bethlehem, and two youths were detained in the village of Deir Samit, southwest of Hebron. Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli military and settler attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have intensified, with over 63,000 such attacks recorded by the Palestinian Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission. These attacks include killings, arrests, property destruction, and preventing farmers from accessing their land, alongside the displacement of Palestinian communities and settlement expansion. Approximately 9,350 Palestinians, including 350 children and 90 women, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian data, amidst ongoing human rights reports of torture, starvation, and medical neglect in prisons.