“Operation Five Stones” is a military / counter-terrorism operation launched by Israel Defense Forces (IDF), along with other security services (border police, Shin Bet, etc.), in the northern West Bankand targets a cluster of villages sometimes described as the “five-village” or “pentagon of villages” area — including places like Tamun, Tubas and surrounding localities (Teisen, Aqaba, Al-Fara’a). The IDF official stated aim is to “suppress terrorism,” to dismantle terrorist infrastructure, arrest suspects, confiscate weapons/terror-funds, and prevent the consolidation of militant networks. ## **On November 26:** The operation began around 26 November 2025.The raid is being led by the Menashe, Samaria, and Commando brigades and is focused on the so-called 'five villages' area, including Tammun and Tubas. The governor of Tubas announced that the army imposed a curfew starting at 4 a.m. Wednesday. Curfews were also declared in additional locations. At dawn, Israeli forces have been storming the city for hours amid a heavy military presence and reinforcements coming from Jenin and surrounding checkpoints. It began with a show of force against the civilian Palestinian population. Soldiers stormed numerous buildings in the governorate and imposed a complete curfew. The operation is accompanied by intensive flights of Apache or Attak helicopters and surveillance drones, as well as gunfire from the air. In addition, main roads have been blocked with earth mounds, leading to the isolation of the governorate from its surroundings and cutting it off entirely. Israeli forces closed a vital street surrounding the Turkish Hospital in Tubas in the morning, obstructing movement of citizens and vehicles throughout the area. This is part of a new siege. Israeli forces have launched a “supplementary” military operation in the northern West Bank, imposing a curfew on Tubas governorate and villages including Tamun and Al-Fara’a starting at 4 AM today. Hebrew media reports the operation will last several days. Tubas Governor Ahmad Asaad confirm: “We were informed of a curfew starting at 4:00 a.m. until further notice due to the Israeli army raids.” The residents were ordered indoors from 4 a.m., with the operation to last several days. All government and educational institutions in Tubas were closed. He confirmed Israel has effectively isolated the entire Tubas Governorate from the rest of the West Bank. During the day, additional Israeli military reinforcements have been heading toward the city of Tubas The Israeli army forced a number of Palestinian families out of their homes and turned the houses into military bases. In the Al-Masalmeh neighborhood of Tubas, they destroyed their contents. In the late hours of the night, Israeli helicopters flew over Tubas and opened fire. The Israeli army closed several roads. Israeli forces shut down a main road leading to the Turkish Hospital in Tubas City;In the middle of the morning, Israeli military vehicles are blocking movement of ambulance vehicles to and from the town of Tammoun **Heavy Deployment & Infrastructure Damage:** Massive deployment around al-Far’a refugee camp south of Tubas. Streets in Tammun were heavily damaged by israeli military vehicles. Bulldozers carried out land-clearing operations in Tammun. **Raids & Home Invasions:** Soldiers stormed homes in ‘Aqaba (Tubas) during the continued assault. Arrests reported in Tammun and Tubas. Israel closed a street around the Turkish Hospital in Tubas. **Director of the Prisoners’ Club in Tubas statement: ** About 60 cases of arrest and detention have been recorded following the Israeli occupation’s assault on Tubas. **In Tammoun:** During the day, Israeli forces have detained the mayor of the town of Tamoun in the West Bank's Tubas Governorate, Samir Bisharat, while he was carrying out his humanitarian duties. The town is completely surrounded from all sides with no movement in the streets. **Casualties:** A Palestinian man, 50 y/o, was injured on Wednesday after brutally assaulted by Israeli forces in the city of Tubas. Red Crescent teams in Tubas treated him after he had been severely beaten by Israeli soldiers. He was later transferred to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams in Tubas treated 10 people who were severely beaten—four of whom were transferred to hospital—and transported 30 medical cases, including 20 kidney-dialysis patients and one deceased person, despite Israeli obstruction of ambulance movement in both Tubas city and Tamoun since dawn. ## **On November 27:** Medical teams from the Palestinian Red Crescent revealed they had treated 25 people for injuries who had been detained, interrogated, and assaulted by Israeli soldiers, before being released afterwards. Israeli forces invading the Palestinian town of Tammun, south of Tubas in the northern West Bank, abducted Palestinians from the town and forced them to lie on the ground, abusing them while they were handcuffed and blindfolded. Reports that Israel detained Palestinian journalists Yazan Hamayel, Khalid Bdeir and Shadi Jarar’a as they were reporting on the military invasion of Tubas in the West Bank. ## **On November 29:** The Israeli forces continued on Saturday their large‑scale aggression against Tubas province, raiding homes and kidnaping and assaulting dozens of local residents. Tubas City went through a harsh night as Israeli forces stormed dozens of homes, assaulted residents and kidnaped dozens of young men. Some of the detainees were reportedly released later after being interrogated and assaulted by Israeli officers, using multiple homes as military barracks and interrogation centers. Local officials report that Israeli forces detained nearly 200 Palestinians over the past four days; most were questioned and released, but at least eight were transferred to military prisons. Additional raids in Qalqilya, Jenin, and Nablus resulted in at least nine more detentions, including two children and a woman. They also wreaked havoc on roads and infrastructure. The mayor of Tammun (Tubas governorate) said the recent raids were the most destructive in years, resulting in: 1.5 km of roads torn up; Water networks destroyed; private property vandalized. **Casualties:** Israeli forces have wounded more than 200 Palestinians in raids on Tubas since Wednesday. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) told Al Jazeera that 78 of the people wounded in Israeli attacks on Tubas since Wednesday required treatment in hospital

On November 25, 2025, in Silwad, a town northeast of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, a group of Israeli colonizers entered and burglarized a Palestinian home at dawn. The targeted home belonged to Abu Adam al-Silwadi. The masked settlers smashed the doors to gain entry, then ransacked the property and damaged belongings, including all electrical installations connected to the solar panels. They fled the area after committing the vandalism.

On November 25, Israeli forces assassinated a Palestinian youth in the village of Merka, south of Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank. Israeli forces surrounded a Palestinian house, before armed clashes broke out, including aircraft bombing and the firing of portable missiles ( “Energa” anti-armor grenades) at the besieged target, which ultimately led to the assassination of Abdul‑Aziz. They later seized his body before withdrawing. Abdul‑Aziz was killed inside a besieged home, with no attempt to abduct him alive, and that his body was taken away by the army, denying his family the right to bury him. The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Sultan Nidal Abdul‑Aziz, 22, from the town of Baqa al‑Hatab east of Qalqilia, was killed by Israeli gunfire during the siege. The assassination of Abdel Aziz comes after 15 months of persecution, against the backdrop of his implementation of the “Shakush” commando operation in the “Kadumim” settlement, in which a settler was killed after being attacked with a hammer. During the period of his persecution, Abdel Aziz’s family was subjected to multiple forms of harassment, including the arrest of his mother and sister several times, in addition to the bombing of the family’s three-story house in Baqa al-Hatab last May. **IDF Statement:** According to the Israeli military, Abdul‑Aziz was involved in an attack on August 18, 2024, in which an Israeli colonizer was killed inside the industrial zone near the illegal colony of Kedumim. The incident was widely referred to in Israeli media as the ‘hammer operation,’ after reports that the attacker used a hammer in the assault.” **Broader context:** Such targeted killings are part of Israel’s broader campaign in the West Bank, where military operations have intensified since October 2023. The “Iron Wall” offensive, launched in January 2025, has focused heavily on Jenin and surrounding towns, involving large‑scale invasions, demolitions, killings and assassinations. Palestinian organizations stress that Israel’s accusations are often used to justify extrajudicial killings without due process. Since the beginning of this year, 236 Palestinians killed in the West Bank in 2025, among them 13 killed by colonizers. Also among the slain Palestinians are 46 children and 7 women. **Name of the martyr:** Sultan Nidal Abdul‑Aziz, 22

The Palestinian herding community of Al Hadidiya (~ 70 residents) is located in Tubas governorate. Settler attacks have intensified in Al Hadidiya following the establishment of a settlement outpost within the community boundaries on 24 November 2025. Since then, residents have reported almost daily settler incursions into residential and grazing areas, harassment, and threats ## **Timeline of events:** **24 November 2025:** Settlement outpost established adjacent to Al-Hadidiya. **On 16 December, 2025,** Israeli settlers from a newly established outpost raided damaged and cut electrical cables connected to a donor-funded solar panel system supplying electricity to two out of about nine households in the western section of the community. **On December 22, 2025,** settlers broke into animal shelters, harassing residents and forcing families to remove livestock feed and water troughs, claiming they were too close to fencing erected around the settlement outpost. According to local sources, settlers chased livestock herds and drove quad bikes through grazing areas, causing the animals to scatter and putting them at risk. During the same incident, settlers attacked another animal shelter and stole at least seven water troughs used for animal drinking. **On January 10, 2026:** At 00:00, Settler youth from the nearby outpost which was established 45 days ago, invaded at midnight, threw stones, shouted, whistled, made a lot of noise, acted as drunks. They went from house to house and asked the residents "did you sleep well tonight?" then continued to the sheepfold. The residents called the police, who arrived with the army. The settlers told the police they were just working on the fence and pretended to be doing it (after 1:00 am). An older settler arrived to support them. But the residents of Al-Hadidiyah showed the army and the police the videos they had filmed earlier, and the police were convinced and told the settlers to return to the outpost and confiscated the weapon from one of them. ### **Incitement against Activist documenting the events:** **On January 30, Press Release of Jordan Valley Activists نشطاء غور الأردن @JVActivists** *Human rights activist falsely accused of poisoning settlers’ animals. Since the beginning of the week, a video and texts have been circulating on social media claiming that an activist from our group scattered poisoned dates in the area and caused the poisoning of sheep. At the same time, the activist was detained by the police, interrogated, and released with restrictions. None of this is true. The court lifted the restrictions after the police failed to present any evidence linking her to the poisoning, admitted that no dead cattle or sheep were found, and that the dates were not even tested. The plot is yet another act of intimidation and revenge against human rights activists who engage in protective presence with shepherd communities in the Jordan Valley. The video was filmed on Sunday as the activist walked along a dirt road that passes by the Palestinian community of al-Hadidiyah shepherds and residents of the illegal outpost "Abraham's shepherds" that was established about 200 meters from the community. They attacked her, claiming that the land "belongs" to them ("like all the land in the area"). Since the establishment of the violent outpost about two months ago, its residents have been working to expel the community of al-Hadidiyah by preventing grazing, harming the sheep, threatening and intimidating them, and erecting a barbed wire fence around the community, all with the support of the army and police, while the army carries out false arrests of Palestinians in coordination with the settlers. Following the above attack, a false and fabricated complaint was filed by Uriel Alkobi, head of the "Abraham's shepherds" outpost, and without any evidence, the police embarked on a campaign of harassment and intimidation in the Palestinian shepherd communities around the area under the pretext of searching for the activist (they had her name and phone number) and arrived at night in two vehicles to detain the "suspected" activist. Once again, we are shocked by the cooperation between the settlers, the police, and the army against the Palestinians and the activists. By the methods in which the police are disrupting our lives and causing us and our families to live in fear instead of carrying out their duties. By the misuse of resources, and by the fans, including media figures affiliated with the government, who are poisoning the networks with false information that provokes hateful and incitement reactions. It is worth noting here that the method of criminalising Palestinian residents initiated by settlers for poisoning sheep is well known to us. During November 2025, six Palestinian citizens were accused of poisoning sheep in an illegal outpost area in the Al-Mughayir area. And congratulations to the "Abraham's shepherds" outpost farm on the new shinny blue loader they received as a gift from the state this week!*

On November 24, 2025, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, accompagnied by IDF forces, raided the Bedouin town of Lakiya amid a sharp rise in violent crime across Negev Arab communities, prompting anger from residents and leaders. Police blocked the town’s entrance with concrete barriers as part of “Operation New Order,” aimed at curbing gangs and weapons trafficking. Arab mayors accused Ben Gvir of excluding them from key decision-making despite Arab towns suffering most of the bloodshed; over 230 Arab citizens have been killed this year in largely gang-related violence. During the visit, Ben Gvir clashed with Ra’am MK Walid al-Hawashleh, calling himself the town’s “landlord” and telling the MK “out” in Arabic—remarks that residents and leaders condemned as racist provocations. Locals also resented the roadblocks, likening them to West Bank-style restrictions. As part of the operation, police placed concrete barriers around Bedouin communities. Local leaders criticized the move as a political photo-op and argued that enforcement is needed at night, when armed activity peaks. This operation is experienced as a siege, a colletive punishement and an apartheid decision. Earlier the same day, Beersheba’s mayor held an emergency meeting on the crime wave with Jewish regional leaders, but no Bedouin or Arab council heads were invited, deepening frustration. Bedouin leaders stressed the urgent need to remove army-grade weapons flooding their communities. In Jerusalem, activists with the Standing Together movement staged a dramatic protest, covering themselves in fake blood to highlight what they described as the government’s abandonment of Arab society and failure to curb the violence.

The Hakawati Theatre (also called El‑Hakawati or the Palestinian National Theatre) is in East Jerusalem, on Abu Obeida Ibn al‑Jarah Street in the Sheikh Jarrah / American Colony neighborhood. On November 23, 2025, Israeli intelligence forces stormed the Hakawati Theatre, also known as the Palestinian National Theatre in East Jerusalem, and abruptly shut down a children’s musical show, “Dreams under the Olive Tree,” threatening the audience with just five minutes to leave. They shut down a performance in which Palestinian children were presenting a traditional scene, terrified them, and ordered everyone to leave, following the direct instructions of the far-right Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has intensified attacks on Palestinian cultural spaces across the city. The theatre, founded in 1984, is a major hub for Palestinian culture, hosting plays, festivals and training young actors, and has long been a space for artistic expression and resistance. Al-Hakawati has faced repeated threats and closures over the years, including bans on children’s festivals and temporary shutdowns by Israeli authorities. This raid is part of a broader pattern of attacks on Palestinian cultural institutions, driven by Israel’s extremist policies, aimed at silencing Palestinian voices and curtailing cultural expression among Palestinians. One of the founders of the Hakawati Theater in 1984 was the late François, the son of the French poet and surgeon Laurent Gaspar. He chose a Palestinian identity and lived it fully, adopting an Arabic surname to complete his rootedness in the place, becoming François Abu Salem.

On November 23, a young Palestinian man was killed on evening after being shot by Israeli forces during a settlers attack on Deir Jarir town, east of Ramallah. Earlier that evening, settlers attacked Deir Jarir, supported by Israeli forces, who fired tear gas heavily at residents. They assaulted residents and their homes, while Israeli forces provided protection for them. During the assault, a young man sustained critical injuries from a live bullet to the chest. The Palestinian Red Crescent administered CPR and life-saving efforts before transferring him to a hospital, where he later succumbed to his wounds. The same evening, a large crowd attended the funeral of Baraa Khairi Ali Maali. Students at Birzeit University declared a general strike the following day to mourn him and protest the ongoing killings. **Name of the martyr:** Baraa Khairy Ali Maali, 20,

On November 21, Israeli settlers set fire to six residential villas in the Tarouja area between the villages of Al-Lubban al-Sharqiya and Ammouriyeh, south of Nablus. The fires caused extensive destruction to the structures and surrounding property. Dozen of settlers stormed the mountain and ignited the fires in the six villas, which belong to Palestinian citizen Khalil Abu Sneina and several partners. The guard of the villas suffered burn injuries while attempting to extinguish the flames.

On November 20, at around 23:30 on Thursday, Israeli forces raided the Kafr ‘Aqab village, north of occupied East Jerusalem, deployed along Jerusalem–Ramallah Street. Israeli military vehicles were stationed near Sikal intersection, while a number of Israeli soldiers were positioned in front of the “Shish Shawarma” building, and an Israeli sniper climbed the building’s fourth floor. The Israeli forces killed two Palestinian civilians: a child and a young man, shortly after midnight on Friday, November 20. **According to information collected by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ (PCHR) staff:** - At approximately 00:00, on Friday, the Israeli forces heavily fired stun grenades under the pretext that one of the soldiers had been attacked with stones, sparking limited clashes in the area. - About twenty minutes later, an Israeli sniper stationed in a nearby residential building opened fire at Sami Ibrahim Sami Mashayikh (16) while he was on the main street, approximately 50 meters away from the sniper’s position. The child was shot with a live bullet in the chest and was then transported by the village’s residents in a private vehicle to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. - About twenty minutes after the first incident, the Israeli sniper reopened fire on other people in the same area, wounding one in the foot, while another, ‘Amr Khaled Ahmed al-Marbou‘ (18), was shot in the chest with a live bullet. ‘Amr was initially taken to the nearby Daa’ al-Shifa Medical Center before being transferred to the Palestine Medical Complex, where Sami Mashayikh and ‘Amr al-Marbou‘ were pronounced dead at around 01:00. According to PCHR the child, the teenager, and the events in the village posed no danger or threat to the soldiers’ lives; therefore, there was no justification for the excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians. Oday al-Shurfa, a friend of Marbou, told AFP he witnessed the incident, which occurred during clashes between Israeli forces and local Palestinians. "He was just standing there, not holding or throwing stones -- just like the others,". Marbou was hit "in the chest, in the heart. He collapsed and was martyred on the spot,". Anotehr relative of Marbou told AFP: "He was with four others; one of them was also killed, another is in critical condition," and another suffered a serious hand injury."What kind of brutality is this?" she said. **Investigation of Defense for Children- Palestine:** *"Sami Ibrahim Sami Mashayekh, 15, was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper on November 20 around 11:30 p.m. in the Palestinian town of Kafr Aqab, north of Jerusalem in the central occupied West Bank. Sami was playing with his friends in the neighborhood when Israeli forces raided the area. An Israeli sniper took up a position on the roof of the Al-Rajih Medical Center and opened fire toward a group of children and youths in the vicinity. Sami was struck by a bullet in the back that exited through his chest near his heart, causing a severe penetrating wound and significant bleeding. He was shot from a distance of about 50 meters (164 feet) and left bleeding on the ground for 10 minutes, as a sniper targeted anyone who attempted to reach him. Following the raid, Sami was taken to Al-Shifa Hospital in Kafr Aqab and then transferred to the Ramallah Medical Complex, where he was pronounced dead around 1 a.m. Sami usually went out in the evenings to play with his friends, as he owned an electric scooter that he used daily. On the evening of the 20th, he went out with his friends as usual, but they heard that a military operation was present in their neighborhood. Sami returned home to put his scooter away, then went back out of curiosity to see what was happening. As soon as he reached the area, he was immediately shot, according to his relative."* Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP, states that: *“After more than two decades of collecting documentation of Palestinian children killed by Israeli soldiers, it is clear that soldiers kill these children simply because they want to,”. “They know that they will face no consequences from their superior officers, government officials, or anyone in the international community for killing a Palestinian child.”* **Israeli spin:** The operation, according to Israeli police, was aimed at what it described as “hostile elements seeking to harm security forces and provoke violent disorder.” Police came under attack by stone-throwing and fireworks during the operation. **Funeral:** Several hundred people, mostly young men, took part in the funeral processions for Marbou and Mashayekh on Noember 21, clapping and chanting. The deceased were draped in Palestinian flags with their heads covered with the traditional black and white Palestinian keffiyeh. Relatives recited prayers around the bodies. **Victim names:** 1. Amr Khaled Ahmed al-Marbou, 18, 2. Sami Ibrahim Sami Mashayekh, 15.

On November 20, 2025, Israeli settlers have set dozens of cars and several buildings on fire near the Palestinian town of Huwara in the West Bank, with this act of terror coinciding with a meeting by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss rising nationalist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. A groups of settlers from the illegal settlement of “Yitzhar” attacked the area located between the towns of Huwara and Odala and set fire to the car scrapyard owned by Muhammad al-Dallal. The blaze triggered massive fires and explosions caused by burning vehicles, sending columns of smoke rising over the area adjacent to the bypass road. Huwara Mayor Jihad Ouda reported that Israeli settlers were seen throwing rocks Thursday from an overpass at passing Palestinian vehicles below. The massive fire began soon after. The Israeli army arrived later to force the perpetrators away: “If the army had not removed them, they would have done even more,” Dalal said. “These settlers are causing destruction everywhere here. ... Where can we go? We want to remain steadfast on our land, no matter what.” **IDF investigation:** An Israeli investigation unit of soldiers and border police officers on Friday collected evidence at the scorched scrapyard, according to an Associated Press crew who was asked to leave by the investigators. Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said it dispatched soldiers to the area after receiving reports that settlers were throwing rocks at Palestinian cars. It also said other reports indicated that “several” Israeli civilians had set fires and damaged property in the area. It said soldiers searched the area but didn’t find any suspects and that the police were now handling the case. **Previous incident:** Huwara has been the target of numerous attacks over recent years. In February 2023, scores of Israeli settlers went on a violent rampage there, setting dozens of cars and homes on fire after two settlers were killed by a Palestinian gunman. Palestinian medics said one man was killed and four others were badly wounded.