UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE
By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - More than 100 illegal Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, killing one person and setting fire to a home and several vehicles, according to multiple sources.
According to the witnesses, the settlers stormed the town of Jit, situated along the main road between Nablus and Qalqilya.
The attackers opened fire at residents, pelted stones at homes, and set fire to at least one house and several vehicles, they added.
The witnesses also said that Israeli forces provided protection to the illegal settlers and prevented Palestinian civil defense vehicles from entering the town.
Citing an Israeli security source, the Israeli army radio reported that more than 100 settlers stormed the town.
The source said that the settlers set fire to four homes and six vehicles owned by Palestinians, while hurling stones and Molotov cocktails at residents and their property.
“The incident ended without any arrests, while several Palestinians suffered from inhalation of tear gas” fired by Israeli soldiers, it added.
Over the past few years, the Israeli military has conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which have escalated with the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
At least 632 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.
In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio