Israeli forces arrested a prominent Palestinian academic and his parents in Hebron early on Sunday, amid continuing raids and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank .
Dr Bilal Al-Shobaki, head of the Political Science Department at Hebron University, was detained during a pre-dawn raid on his home, while Israeli forces also arrested his parents from their residence earlier in the night.
His wife, Zein Asqalan, told The New Arab that a large force of Israeli soldiers stormed their residential building at around 2 am.
"They began shouting wildly from the entrance of the building to terrorise the residents and continued doing so until they reached the fifth floor where we live," she said.
According to Asqalan, soldiers searched the family home, damaged property, confiscated Al-Shobaki's mobile phone and took him to an unknown location. She said his parents, Samira and Mahmoud Al-Shobaki, were also arrested and that the family had received no information about their whereabouts.
Asqalan said Al-Shobaki had returned from Italy only hours earlier, where he had been participating in an academic exchange programme between Hebron University and an Italian university.
She said Israeli authorities had detained him for around three hours at the Karama Crossing before allowing him to continue his journey.
In a separate development, Israeli police and military forces launched a manhunt following a series of shooting attacks in the occupied West Bank and nearby Israeli towns.
Israel's emergency service, Magen David Adom, said one man was killed and four others wounded.
Police said at least one suspected attacker had been killed and that searches were continuing for additional assailants.
Meanwhile, 13 Palestinians were injured during a settler attack on the town of Huwara, south of Nablus, according to local officials.
Rana Abu Haniya, director of public relations at Huwara Municipality, told The New Arab that settlers surrounded the municipal building, attacked nearby homes and stole around 40 sheep from a livestock enclosure.
"A large group of settlers attacked the southern area of Huwara near the municipal building, surrounded the municipality and assaulted a Palestinian home adjacent to it," she said.
Abu Haniya said settlers also damaged vehicles, stole a car and assaulted residents. The injuries included beatings, bullet shrapnel wounds and tear-gas inhalation.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said it treated eight people during the attack, including casualties from rubber-coated bullets and tear gas exposure.
Elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, settlers reportedly attacked Palestinian farmers near Al-Dhahiriya south of Hebron, vandalised agricultural land northwest of Nablus, and blocked access roads in Turmusayya northeast of Ramallah.
Israeli forces also carried out raids and arrests in several towns, including Silwad, Al-Mazra'a Al-Sharqiya and Rafat.
The developments come days after seven-month-old Palestinian baby Sam Abu Haikal was shot dead by Israeli soldiers near Hebron.
Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank have escalated sharply.
At least 1,173 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since 7 October 2023, including 244 children, while more than 12,200 have been wounded.
In 2026 alone, 68 Palestinians have been killed, including 17 allegedly killed by Israeli settlers.