West Bank Attacks: Israeli Settlers Burn Homes, Injure Palestinians in Coordinated Raids

Israeli settlers attacked multiple Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank overnight Saturday and into Sunday, setting homes and vehicles ablaze and injuring several residents, according to reports from Palestinian news agencies and international observers.

The attacks, reported in at least six communities, represent a significant escalation of violence in the territory, occurring during the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan. Settlers entered al-Fandaqumiya and the nearby town of Seilat al-Dahr, south of Jenin, late Saturday, setting fire to houses and cars and damaging property, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

In al-Fandaqumiya, residents attempted to extinguish the fires as settlers smashed windows, Wafa said. In Seilat al-Dahr, homes were targeted and at least one resident was injured. Further attacks were reported in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, where two Palestinians were wounded and three were arrested after settlers entered the area, reportedly under the protection of Israeli forces. Vehicles were burned and residents injured in the villages of Qaryout and Jaloud, south of Nablus. Images from Jaloud display a four-wheel-drive vehicle completely destroyed by fire.

Witnesses described coordinated raids, with settlers moving between villages. Footage obtained by the Guardian showed a large group of hooded settlers withdrawing from Jaloud in the early hours of Sunday. Israeli troops and police were present in some areas but did not intervene to stop the attacks, witnesses said.

Comparable incidents were reported near Haris, west of Salfit and Rawabi in the Ramallah area, where settlers threw stones at passing Palestinian vehicles. Attacks also occurred in Tuqou, southeast of Bethlehem.

The Israeli military stated it responded to reports of Israeli civilians involved in “arson against structures and property” and disturbances, but did not report any arrests. Separately, Israeli forces wounded two Palestinians late Saturday at the Jabara checkpoint, south of Tulkarem, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

Yair Golan, leader of Israel’s centre-left Democrats, condemned the violence, accusing the government of enabling lawlessness in the West Bank. “While we are fighting in Iran and on the northern border… this government is encouraging total anarchy,” Golan wrote on X. “Jewish terrorism is spreading, exploiting the war, with the backing of extremist ministers and dangerous encouragement from the prime minister and the defence minister.”

The attacks arrive amid a broader surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza. According to the UN, Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023. Human rights organizations, including B’Tselem, have accused the Israeli government of enabling settler violence “as part of a strategy to cement the takeover of Palestinian land,” and the UN has warned that Israeli policies risk forcibly displacing Palestinian communities.

On March 15, B’Tselem reported that Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle in Tamoun, in the northern Jordan Valley, killing a Palestinian couple and their two children. The group also reported a separate incident in March where Israeli settlers sexually assaulted a Palestinian man, tying his genitalia with zip ties and parading him naked in front of his family, according to the victim and witnesses.

Israel has killed at least 26 Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, with at least 18 of those deaths caused by military gunfire.