Israeli settlers set Palestinian homes and cars alight in West Bank rampage

Israeli settlers rampaged through West Bank villages on Monday night and Tuesday morning, attacking Palestinians and setting fire to homes and vehicles. The attacks targeted the Toubasi family in Jalud, south of Nablus, forcing them to flee their home for the second time after repeated settler assaults. Despite an Israeli court ordering their return, settlers arrived in large numbers and set fire to two of their homes, leaving the family homeless.

Israeli forces arrived but did not intervene, providing protection to the settlers instead. The army clashed with some settlers, injuring three officers after the crowd blocked roads and attacked troops. Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the clashes as a "moral stain," while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the violence against Palestinians.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, settlers attacked a village in al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, setting fire to a house and vehicles, and Beitunia and Jaryout Road west of Ramallah saw large numbers of settlers entering under Israeli protection. In East Jerusalem, dozens of settlers attacked two Palestinian men at Damascus Gate, kicking and punching them.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory described the escalation in settler violence as unprecedented and supported by Israeli policies, resulting in over 1300 Palestinian deaths since October 2023.