JENIN, December 28, 2025 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the city of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, on Sunday morning after a two-day military offensive and a strict siege that caused widespread destruction to infrastructure and private property.

Qabatiya Mayor Ahmed Zakarneh told WAFA that the occupation isolated the city from surrounding villages and towns from the very beginning of the incursion, imposing a complete curfew, blocking secondary streets with dirt barriers, and leveling roads. These measures paralyzed movement and severely affected the local economy.

During the curfew, municipal emergency teams managed to transport an average of 30 medical cases daily to the town's medical center and to nearby Jenin city. Zakarneh noted that dozens of workers dependent on stone-cutting factories, the central vegetable market, farms, and commercial shops were unable to work, resulting in significant economic losses.

Municipal teams are currently surveying the damage, which includes several main roads that were recently paved at a cost of about 100,000 shekels (about $31,000) each, the destruction of two electricity transformers worth $19,000 each, and the cutting of hundreds of meters of power cables. The municipality had to rely on backup transformers to restore electricity in the town.

During the raids, Israeli forces stormed around 50 homes, converting six into military outposts, vandalized properties, attacked residents, and occupied a school. Fifty residents were detained; most were released except for a father and his two sons.

The incursion began on Friday evening with multiple military vehicles and a bulldozer, while soldiers and snipers were deployed on rooftops throughout the town, causing widespread fear and disruption among residents.

M.N