Israeli Settlers Attack West Bank Villages, Targeting Properties and Injuring Palestinians with Army Protection
Settler violence continues across the West Bank, with vehicles set ablaze and several injuries reported, as Israeli forces provide protection.
West Bank, Palestine – Israeli settlers launched violent attacks on Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank, setting homes and vehicles on fire while injuring several residents. These attacks occurred under the protection of Israeli military forces.
Jalal Bashir, the head of the Jinasfut village council, reported on Monday that the assaults targeted the villages of Jinasfut and Funduq, located east of Qalqilya. Bashir explained that dozens of settlers raided Jinasfut, setting fire to three homes, a nursery, and a workshop. In addition, several Palestinian vehicles were torched by the attackers. One Palestinian man sustained a head injury while trying to protect his property, and several others were treated for tear gas inhalation after Israeli soldiers fired the gas to disperse crowds.
In the southern West Bank, settler violence continued as attackers stormed a Palestinian home in the Masafer Yatta area, while other settlers hurled stones at Palestinian vehicles south of Hebron, causing significant damage.
Human rights organization Yesh Din, which monitors violations in the occupied territories, released video footage showing the aftermath of settler attacks. The videos depicted Palestinian-owned vehicles and buildings engulfed in flames. Yesh Din reported that settlers set two homes on fire and damaged at least four vehicles in Sinjil village, northeast of Ramallah. In Ein Siniya village, north of Ramallah, settlers targeted homes and set them ablaze, while in Turmus Aya, also northeast of Ramallah, Palestinian property was destroyed, and stones were thrown at vehicles near al-Lubban Asharqiya, south of Nablus.
The attacks on Palestinian communities come just as US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday reversing sanctions imposed on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. The Biden administration, however, condemned these actions, describing them as part of the "extremist settlement movement."
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed deep concern over the escalating violence in the West Bank, noting the simultaneous increase in settler and Israeli military aggression during the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. In a statement, the OHCHR condemned the renewed violence and the growing restrictions on Palestinian freedom of movement, including the closure of checkpoints and the installation of new gates that have left entire communities confined.
The UN agency also highlighted recent attacks on Palestinian villages, including Monday's raid by Israeli forces that led to the death of a Palestinian teenager, as further signs of growing instability and the Israeli government's plans to expand operations in the occupied territory.