Settlers rampage through Palestinian towns in fury over Gaza deal

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
20 Jan 2025 13:05
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Israeli settlers target Palestinian vehicles and block key roads in areas including Turmus Ayya, ‘Atara, Ein Siniya, Ein Ayoub, Qalqilya, and Jaba’.

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A screengarb from a video showing settlers setting fire to two homes and at least four vehicles in the village of Sinjil. (Social media)

Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli occupation forces, stormed multiple Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank on Sunday evening, expressing outrage over a Gaza ceasefire deal widely perceived as a defeat for the Israeli entity.

The settlers targeted Palestinian vehicles and blocked key roads in areas including Turmus Ayya, ‘Atara, Ein Siniya, Ein Ayoub, Qalqilya, and Jaba’.

In Sinjil, WAFA news agency reported that two Palestinian homes and four vehicles were set on fire. Social media footage captured settlers throwing stones and Molotov cocktails during their attacks.

⚡️ Settler gangs set fire to Palestinian vehicles in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah in the West Bank, and threw stones at Palestinians, injuring one. pic.twitter.com/wVIoA3mwLH
— Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) January 19, 2025

The assaults occurred just hours before "Israel" released the first group of Palestinian detainees—69 women and 21 children—in exchange for three Israeli captives as part of a truce agreement between the Palestinian Resistance Hamas and "Israel". The deal aimed to end "Israel's" 15-month-long war on Gaza.

Far-right Israelis denounced the ceasefire, demanding the continuation of the military offensive against Gaza. Ahead of the agreement, Israeli Security Minister Israel Katz ordered the release of all 16 settlers under administrative detention for their involvement in attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Katz justified the decision, saying it was intended “to convey a clear message of strengthening and encouraging the settlements.”

Reacting to Sunday’s violence, the Yesh Din group condemned the lack of accountability for settler aggression, stating, “Settler violence against innocent Palestinians without a response” reflects the message conveyed by Katz and the Tel Aviv regime “when they seek to ‘strengthen and encourage’ the settlements.”

Settlers establish base layer on Palestinian land for new illegal outpost

In a related context, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that a group of Israeli settlers laid Friday a layer of base course on land belonging to the village of al-Naqura, northwest of Nablus.

Hashim Mohsen, the head of the al-Naqura Village Council, told WAFA that the settlers have taken this step as preparation for placing caravans and establishing a colonial outpost on village land.

According to Mohsen, the settlers had previously bulldozed agricultural land owned by several Palestinian residents in the Ain Qibla area.

He pointed out that the settlers threatened that any attempts to approach the land would result in the destruction of all nearby greenhouses owned by local farmers, adding that the targeted area lies just 50 meters away from Palestinian homes.

Israeli settlers in the area routinely target Palestinian farmers, stealing their crops and water pumps while damaging irrigation systems, Mohsen noted.

Following the events of October 7, 2023, attacks by settlers in the occupied West Bank have significantly intensified, with settlers establishing new outposts under the tacit approval of the Israeli government.

Murad Ishtiwi, Director of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission in the northern West Bank, stressed that the Israeli government’s plan to increase the settler population in the northern West Bank to one million by 2050 reflects a deliberate strategy of gradual "annexation".