Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, setting fire to vehicles and other property before clashing with Israeli soldiers dispatched to halt the rampage.
The violence, which occurred in the villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, resulted in four Palestinians being wounded, the Israeli military reported.
Palestinian official Muayyad Shaaban confirmed that the settlers torched a total of four dairy trucks, farmland, tin shacks, and tents belonging to a Bedouin community.
Israeli police said four Israelis were arrested in connection with the incident, which they described as “extremist violence.”
The attack is the latest in a wave of escalating settler assaults on Palestinian communities, which the UN humanitarian office recently noted reached a record high in October, with over 260 attacks recorded—the most in any single month since 2006.
Shaaban, who heads the government’s Commission against the Wall and Settlements, accused the attacks of being part of a campaign to displace Palestinians from their land, and charged Israel with giving settlers “protection and immunity.”
In a separate development, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the rising hostilities during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, stating that “settler violence and the acceleration of settlement projects are reaching new heights, threatening the stability of the West Bank.”
