Despite international sanctions, Jewish settler violence in West Bank shows no signs of abating

By Enes Canli

BURQA, Palestine (AA) – Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank region reported an increase in attacks by Jewish settlers following Hamas's cross-border attack on Oct. 7.

Local people in the village of Burqa, located near the city of Nablus in northern West Bank, said that Israeli soldiers have protected the settlers during these acts of violence.

Residents of the illegal Jewish settlement called "Homes" raided Burqa village on the night of Feb. 19, claiming that a nearby Israeli vehicle had been targeted with a Molotov cocktail.

Jewish settlers attacked four houses, set fire to two vehicles, and destroyed two others during the raid, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.
The road at the entrance of Burqa village has been blocked with earthen walls by Israeli army bulldozers.

Those who want to reach the village have to pass through an Israeli military checkpoint.

Israeli forces warned those entering the village that it is not possible to exit from the village once they have entered.

"Israeli soldiers raided the area with numerous armored vehicles late Monday, beat some Palestinians, and detained some young people," Imad Seyf, who lives in Burqa, told Anadolu.

"The soldiers stationed in a house in the village brought many young Palestinians here for interrogation," Seyf recalled.

"Meanwhile, dozens of Jewish settlers raided the village, attacking Palestinian homes and vehicles and setting some cars on fire," he added.

- Record-high settlement activity

Tensions have been high across the West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip after a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 400 Palestinians from the West Bank have been killed by the Israeli forces and settlers since Oct. 7, in addition to over 4,440 others injured.

The Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank reached a record high during the first year under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's current government, according to a report by an Israeli leftist non-governmental organization.

Peace Now revealed in a statement on Feb.16 that the number of settlements has risen since the outbreak of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.

The statement revealed that the formation of the Netanyahu government in December 2022 created "unprecedented conditions for the expansion of settlements."

"In 2023, settlers established at least 26 new illegal outposts, with at least ten established during the war since Oct. 7, 2023, and at least 18 of them being agricultural farms," it further said.

Estimates indicate about 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

All Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal under international law.

The Palestinian death toll from Israel's deadly offensive against the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 has risen to 29,313.

Some 69,333 other people have also been injured in the ongoing onslaught.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas in October, in which nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught, while all of them are food insecure, according to the UN. Hundreds of thousands of people are living without shelter, and aid trucks entering the territory ⁠number less than half the number before the start of the conflict.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which, in an interim ruling in January, ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz