Israeli forces take over homes, impose curfew on West Bank’s Qabatiya

Incursion follows Israeli defence minister’s order for military to ‘act forcefully’ against the Palestinian town.Published On 27 Dec 2025Israeli forces have carried out mass arrests and forced dozens of families from their homes in the town of Qabatiya in the occupied West Bank, on the second day of a sweeping military operation ordered by Israel’s defence minister.Israeli forces sealed off entrances to Qabatiya while rounding up and interrogating dozens of residents on Saturday, local sources told Al Jazeera. They converted several homes into military interrogation centres, displacing their occupants, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Israeli forces kill Palestinian in Gaza, carry out raids across West Banklist 2 of 4Infant, adults wounded in West Bank attacks by Israeli forces, settlerslist 3 of 4Palestinian economy faces critical downturn amid escalating fiscal crisislist 4 of 4What are the consequences of Israel’s expanding illegal settlements?end of listIsrael’s Army Radio reported that the town is subject to a “full curfew”.The crackdown follows an order by Israeli Defense Minister Israel-katz" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="4249" data-entity-type="person">Israel Katz ​to “act forcefully … against the village of Qabatiya”, where he claims a Palestinian alleged of carrying out a stabbing and car-ramming attack in northern Israel hails from.In a statement on Friday, Israel’s military said it had deployed troops from multiple divisions, along with border police and members of the Shin Bet security service, into Qabatiya. It said forces had raided the attack suspect’s home and were preparing to demolish it.Rights groups have long condemned Israel’s practice of demolishing the family homes of Palestinians accused of attacks against Israelis, describing it as an illegal form of collective punishment.Israel’s military claimed its forces would “scan additional locations in the village” and “work to arrest wanted individuals and locate weapons”.“There is a sense of fear among people in town,” one resident told Al Jazeera. “There are Israeli threats and Israeli incitement.”