CrossFireArabia
Aya Faqaha reunited with her family in Kafr al-Labad, east of Tulkarm after after spending six months in an Israeli prison. She was arrested by Israeli occupation forces from her home six months ago.
CrossFireArabia
His eyes held the wrinkles of a lifetime, like the marks of a plow in the clay of Galilee, and his hands were rough yet gentle, like the skin of an ancient olive tree, unshaken by the wind.
He never left this land, not for a moment. He wakes with the first light of dawn to greet the earth and call to it by the names of his ancestors. He waters these seedlings with the sweat of his brow, giving them a little of his life every day. For him, the land isn’t just a handful of mud; it’s his honor, his dignity, his entire life. And when time tried to bargain with him over his land, he stood firm like an oak; he sacrificed comfort and sleep, refusing to give up an inch, even if it meant his neck.
I walk among the olive trees like someone who fears for his children, knowing that the land does not betray the one who loves it, and that the blood he waters it with will return to bear the fruit of freedom. Everyone will die, and this farmer will remain a story: a man who loved his land to death, so it became his soul.
CrossFireArabia
CROSSFIREARABIA – Today, Palestinians and the Arab world remembers political cartoonist Naji Al Ali. It has been exactly 39 years since his assassination. He died on 29 August, 1987 in Charing Cross Hospital in London. He was shot and mortally wounded on 22 July of that year as he walked down Ives Street in Chelsea by an identified gunmen. Al Ali subsequently fell into a coma and died a month later. In his life-time Al Ali was said to have drawn at least 40,000 cartoons.
CrossFireArabia
The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) documented 1,669 violations by Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the West Bank between 21-27 August, 2026. These violations included killings, injuries, arrests, raids, and house searches, as well as settler attacks, demolitions, and property confiscations.
According to the center’s data, the violations during this period resulted in the killing of three Palestinians and injuries to 50 others, while 163 arrests and detentions were recorded.
The center also documented 235 raids, 281 house searches, 333 instances of harassment at checkpoints, and 59 shooting incidents.
The violations also included 155 settler attacks and settlement activity, 45 instances of property demolition and destruction, 76 cases of property confiscation, and 246 instances of area closures.
Regarding attacks on civilian sectors, the center documented seven violations against holy sites, nine cases of assault and battery, three violations against medical and press personnel, and four violations targeting the education sector.
According to the center, these figures confirm the continued pace of attacks and violations in the West Bank, and their diverse forms, ranging from military operations and arrests to raids, settler attacks, and restrictions on the movement of Palestinians.
CrossFireArabia
Three Palestinian families remain under siege in Qusra as Israeli occupation forces and settlers intensify pressure to force them from their land.
Israeli occupation forces and illegal Israeli Jewish settlers have maintained a siege on three Palestinian homes in the Ras al-Ain area of Qusra, south of Nablus, for 20 consecutive days, Quds News Network and local sources reported on Friday.
Residents say the operation is intended to force the three families from their homes and ultimately seize their land.
Israeli occupation forces have intensified their presence around Jabal Ras al-Ain, restricting the families’ movement and their ability to obtain basic daily necessities.
Soldiers reportedly erected a military tent directly in front of the home of Palestinian resident Loai Abu Ridi and installed iron gates at entrances to the area, further restricting access.
Local residents warned that the prolonged siege increasingly threatens the ability of the three families to remain in their homes.
At the same time, illegal Israeli settlers, operating under the protection of occupation forces, installed new mobile homes at the eastern entrance to Qusra.
Residents said the move was intended to expand settlement outposts and consolidate control over additional Palestinian land.
Despite the pressure, the families and other residents of Qusra said they would remain on their land and rejected attempts to force them from the area.
The siege in Qusra came amid widespread Israeli military raids and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank overnight Thursday and early Friday.
In Beita, south of Nablus, armed settlers assaulted Palestinian resident Issa Abdullah Hamayel and his wife in the Ain Umm al-Jarba area before forcing the couple to leave their land at gunpoint.
The Palestinian Red Crescent separately treated a Palestinian who was injured after being assaulted by Israeli forces in Tell, west of Nablus.
Israeli troops also stormed Beit Iba, Madama and Awarta, raiding homes and firing tear gas. A settler vehicle entered residential neighborhoods in Awarta during the military incursion.
In Jenin, Israeli occupation forces arrested Abdul Razzaq Abed, Adnan Abed and Mahmoud Abed after raiding their homes in Kafr Dan.
Troops also raided housing used by Palestinians displaced from the Jenin refugee camp near the Arab American University.
According to local reports, Israeli occupation forces detained relatives of wanted Palestinian Qais al-Bitawi, including a woman, in an attempt to pressure him to surrender.
Additional Israeli raids were reported in Tammun, south of Tubas, and Azzun, east of Qalqilya.
In Hebron (Al-Khalil), military vehicles entered the Al-Murabba’a area and southern parts of the city, where soldiers raided and searched Palestinian homes. Illegal settlers also gathered near Palestinian homes in the Al-Dawarah area of Sa’ir, north of Hebron.
In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli occupation forces maintained military control of the Qalandiya Vocational Institute for a fourth consecutive day on Friday.
Israeli military vehicles continued patrolling the surrounding area after occupation forces seized the UNRWA facility earlier this week, expelled its staff and raised an Israeli flag over the compound.
The institute, established in 1952, was the first UNRWA vocational training center in Palestine and has provided vocational education to generations of Palestinian refugees.
Israeli occupation forces also stormed Airport Street near the Qalandiya refugee camp on Friday, firing volleys of tear gas.
A Palestinian young man was detained during the raid before Israeli troops withdrew toward nearby military checkpoints. Palestine Chronicle
