Israeli illegal settlers attack Palestinians across West Bank
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Settlers took control of a spring water source near the village of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.
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Palestinians stand in line next to Israeli armoured vehicles during a military operation in the West Bank Jenin refugee camp, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024 (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Saturday that Israeli illegal settlers assaulted Palestinians and their properties in various areas across the occupied West Bank on Friday evening.
The attacks were part of a broader pattern of settlers' violence that has escalated since October 7.
In one incident, settlers set fire to a large area of cultivated land belonging to Palestinians from the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah.
The settlers were reportedly from the nearby settlement outpost of Oz Zion.
Following the arson, the Israeli army entered Burqa, using stun grenades and teargas canisters against the villagers' homes and obstructing Palestinian firefighting teams from reaching the burning fields, WAFA reported.
Read more: Israeli airstrike on Tulkarm martyrs five, armed settlers murder sixth
In another attack, settlers took control of a spring water source near the village of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.
Additionally, in the eastern occupied West Bank, settlers targeted a Bedouin community northwest of Areeha.
Hassan Malihat, general supervisor of Al-Baydar Organisation for Defending Bedouin Rights, stated that the Bedouin community of Arab Al-Malihat was attacked.
He noted that these Bedouin communities have been subjected to repeated assaults by armed settlers aiming to forcibly expel them from their land.
Recurring aggressions
According to Palestinian sources, Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have surged since October 7.
The settlers used a range of violent methods, including firing live ammunition, beatings, stoning vehicles, and attacking homes, families, and farmers.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that the overall death toll of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since October 7 by the Israeli army and settlers has reached 673, with over 5,400 others injured.
These incidents occur amid heightened international scrutiny.
On July 19, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion declaring "Israel's" decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and called for the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank.
Read more: Settler violence forces 'largest' Palestinian displacement since Oct 7
US announces new sanctions on Israeli settlers over West Bank violence
The United States announced on Wednesday new sanctions targeting Israeli settlers over violence in the occupied West Bank and urged "Israel" to increase accountability for such actions.
The announcement comes as Israeli occupation forces launched an aggression, that is expected to be the largest in 22 years, on several governorates in the West Bank late on Tuesday night.
The Israeli military command said that its forces had initiated a "wide-scale operation" in the governates of Tulkarm and Jenin, targeting Palestinian Resistance fighters. In detail, the aggression targets the Jenin, al-Far'a, and Nur Shams refugee camps, in Jenin, Tubas, and Tulkarm respectively.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stressed that such "extremist settler violence causes intense human suffering, harms Israel's security and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region," adding that it is critical for "Israel" to hold all responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank accountable.
