Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Towns, Torch Palestinian Property in West Bank

Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian property in the towns of Beit Furik and Huwara, south of Nablus, according to the Israeli military.

The army reported “enforcement activities” against a so-called illegal construction in the area but did not confirm whether its forces intervened in the settler attacks. Two soldiers were injured during the operations, while six individuals were detained, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

Human rights groups and witnesses allege that the Israeli army often acts in complicity with settlers, either by standing by or directly participating in the attacks. This complicity has contributed to a spike in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, coinciding with heightened tensions since the Gaza war began.

In Huwara, settlers set fire to a vehicle, marking the second such attack on Palestinian property in the Nablus governorate within hours.

Earlier, in Beit Furik, settlers torched a home and a vehicle. No casualties were reported in either incident.

Peace Now, an organization monitoring illegal land seizures, reports that Israeli settlers have seized 23.7 square kilometers of Palestinian land in 2024, marking a record year for land confiscation.

Separately, Israeli forces arrested at least 22 Palestinians across the West Bank, including children and former prisoners, according to the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs and the Prisoner’s Society.

These arrests, spanning Qalqilya, Tubas, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron, and Nablus, bring the total number of detentions to over 11,900 since the Gaza war began.

Israeli raids have intensified across the West Bank, with soldiers reportedly using civilian homes as temporary military bases during operations, according to the Wafa news agency.

In one instance, seven Palestinians were detained at a checkpoint near Nablus, and a man was arrested in Hebron, where Israeli forces established multiple military checkpoints.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the settler attacks, describing them as acts of terrorism fueled by the international community’s failure to address the escalating violence. The ministry accused Israel of emboldening settlers to commit crimes against Palestinians in the occupied territory.

In a related development, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, announced its divestment from Israeli telecom company Bezeq due to its provision of services to illegal settlements in the West Bank. This decision aligns with the fund’s stricter ethical guidelines on businesses implicated in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.