Israeli forces have arrested at least 53 Palestinians during a raid on the town of Biddu, northwest of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

The raid early on Monday is the third incursion into the area since a Palestinian man from the town suspected of shooting and killing an Israeli settler on Sunday was arrested.

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The Israeli military said a man armed with a gun fired at vehicles near Halamish, an illegal settlement west of Ramallah in the central West Bank. They said the suspect was shot and wounded and later arrested during a military raid at a hospital in Ramallah.

The Jerusalem Governorate said on Monday that Israeli forces continue to detain at least 53 young men in an interrogation centre the forces established inside one of the houses seized during their raid on the town.

“The occupation forces have been conducting a military operation in the town since yesterday. They have turned several homes into detention centres and are interrogating dozens of young men,” Biddu Mayor Nazmi Mansour told Al Jazeera.

He said troops were deployed throughout the town, raiding and searching homes, while offices, shops and educational institutions remain shut.

“The occupation forces have abused and assaulted a number of citizens during the ongoing raids and searches. Residents are staying in their homes, and a state of fear and anticipation prevails in the town,” Mansour said.

Intensified campaign

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah, said the Israeli forces were also conducting field interrogations in Biddu.

“Palestinians living in Biddu say that the Israeli forces continue their raid, but they’re also conducting field interrogations against Palestinians in the village to remind people that if anyone is considering an attack against Israelis, then the whole town, the whole vicinity, the whole area will be paying the price for it,” she said.

Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has been steadily growing since the eruption of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, but has intensified significantly this year.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recorded more than 1,330 settler-related attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank from January to late July, averaging six a day and marking the fastest pace in about 20 years.

Various settler groups, often supported or protected by Israeli soldiers, have attacked Palestinians in several ways, including shooting, besieging homes and engaging in other forms of communal violence that experts have described as “pogroms“.

Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim said Israeli violence against the Palestinians has intensified before the Israeli election on October 27.

“When we are talking about this campaign that is increasing and intensifying against Palestinians, we have to remember that we’re also talking about less than 40 days for the Israeli elections, where politicians are lobbying to get more votes, and when they crack down on Palestinians, that usually helps them become more prominent and get more votes.”