West Bank Violence: Israeli Settlers Injure Palestinians in Attacks After Settler’s Death

At least 10 Palestinians were injured Sunday night in attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, following a funeral for an Israeli settler killed in a car crash the previous night, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and reports from the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The Red Crescent Society reported that the injuries sustained in Deir al-Hatab, near Nablus, included a 45-year-old man shot in the foot and a woman suffering from smoke inhalation. Videos obtained by the Associated Press showed cars and homes ablaze, with army flares illuminating the sky. WAFA reported simultaneous attacks in at least six communities overnight Saturday, marking a recent escalation of violence in the region.

The settler violence followed a funeral held in the settlement of Elon Moreh for Yehuda Sherman, 18, who was killed in a collision with a Palestinian vehicle north of the attacked villages. Israeli police are investigating claims by settlers that the collision was deliberate.

The Israeli military did not respond to questions regarding Sunday night’s attacks. However, it acknowledged responding to Israeli civilians engaged in “arson against structures and property, as well as engaging in disturbances” on Saturday night, but reported no arrests or investigations were opened.

WAFA reported that Saturday night’s attacks targeted the villages of Silat al Dahr and Fandaqumiya, near Jenin; Jalud and Salfit, south of Nablus; and agricultural regions in Masafer Yatta and the Jordan Valley. The agency reported homes and cars were set ablaze, Palestinians were pepper-sprayed, and at least five people were wounded during the assaults, which occurred during the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 25 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers as of March 15th of this year.

Separately on Sunday, four Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to hospital authorities. Three police officers were killed in a strike on a vehicle in the central Nuseirat refugee camp, with ten others wounded, according to the Awda Hospital. Another Palestinian was killed in Gaza City, according to Shifa Hospital. These deaths add to the more than 670 Palestinians killed in Gaza since an October ceasefire attempt to complete a more than two-year conflict between Israel and Hamas.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided, almost daily Israeli fire continues in Gaza. Israeli forces have repeatedly conducted airstrikes and fired on Palestinians near military-held zones, according to Gaza health officials.

Last week, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of general staff, condemned such attacks, stating it was “especially unacceptable during wartime for the military ‘to confront a threatening minority from within.’”

The violence comes as Israel’s government continues to advance new settlements in the occupied West Bank, and attacks by settlers have intensified as attention shifts to the situation in Gaza, according to reports.