“Israeli” Settlers Protected by IOF Attack Palestinian Villages in West Bank

By Staff, Agencies

“Israeli” settlers attacked several Palestinian villages and set a number of cars on fire across the West Bank on Sunday, while receiving protection from “Israeli” Occupation Forces [IOF] troopers.

Settlers physically assaulted Palestinians during the late-night rampage at the entrance to the village of Beitin, located 5 kilometers [3.1 miles] northeast of Ramallah, broke the windshields of several cars and set fire to them, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported citing local sources.

According to the report the attack took place as “Israeli” soldiers stood meters away and watched on.

They intervened only to push back the Palestinians, who came out to fend off settlers, it said. They fired tear gas canisters and stun grenade bombs at Palestinian homes and young protesters.

In the northern West Bank village of Haris, settlers attacked Palestinian commuters, the report added.

The IOF troops intervened to disperse local residents, who had come out to stop the settlers’ violence. They fired tear gas canisters at Palestinian homes, causing breathing difficulties among locals, the report stated.

Four cars were also set on fire and graffiti was painted on the walls of Palestinian homes late on Sunday, when “Israeli” settlers broke into the village of Abu Ghosh, located 10 kilometers [six miles] west of al-Quds [Jerusalem].

Incidents of sabotage and violence by settlers against Palestinians and their property have become a daily occurrence throughout the occupied territories, particularly in the West Bank. Jewish extremists continue their acts of vandalism, known as price tag attacks, against Palestinian properties.

However, “Israeli” authorities rarely prosecute settlers, and the vast majority of the files are closed due to deliberate police failure to investigate them properly.

Settler violence includes property and mosque arson attacks, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, and attacks on vulnerable homes.

“Israeli” settlers have noticeably escalated attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in recent months.

Meanwhile, the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement has praised a retaliatory operation in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Sunday morning, which left three “Israeli” settlers injured.

“The resistance operation constitutes a natural response to the repeated ‘Israeli’ crimes against the Palestinian people that violate all the international laws and conventions,” it said in a statement on Sunday.

The “Israeli” military alleged in a statement that a Palestinian gunman opened fire from a passing vehicle at another car on a highway near the illegal settlement of Tekoa, south of Bethlehem and about 16 kilometers [10 miles] south of al-Quds [Jerusalem].

According to the Palestinian Information Center, the “Israeli” military arrested Palestinian ex-prisoner Ammar al-Najjar, 26, claiming that he carried out the shooting operation in Tekoa.

They stormed his house and summoned his wife, father, and brothers, and placed them in the Etzion interrogation center.

The “Israeli” regime has intensified its military operations in the occupied West Bank, killing dozens of Palestinians and wounding hundreds more in the past two years.

The “Israeli” raids have targeted Palestinian towns, villages, refugee camps, and holy sites, sparking a wave of armed resistance from Palestinian factions.

More than 700,000 “Israeli” settlers live in over 279 settlements built since the 1967 “Israeli” occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds [Jerusalem].

While all “Israeli” settlements are illegal under international law, the occupying regime has stepped up settlement expansion in blatant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The last round of “Israeli”-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was the “Israeli” entity’s continued illegal settlement expansion.