Several Palestinians injured in fresh attacks by illegal Israeli settlers in West Bank

By Qais Omar Darwesh Omar and Rania Abu Shamala

RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL (AA) – Several Palestinians were injured in fresh attacks by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Monday, witnesses and local officials said.

A group of illegal settlers raided the town of Wadi Sa’ir, northeast of Hebron, and attacked Palestinian homes, witnesses said.

The attackers deliberately set fire to one house and two vehicles, and beat residents with clubs and stones, leaving several women and elderly men with bruises, they said.

Illegal settlers also burned three homes, three vehicles, and a caravan in the village of al-Jab’a, southwest of Bethlehem, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

Diyab Masha’leh, the head of the village council, said settler groups attacked the village and torched three inhabited homes.

Three vehicles and a caravan were also burned, he added.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal Israeli settlers have carried out more than 7,000 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.

More than 1,073 Palestinians have since been killed, and 10,700 others were injured, Palestinian figures showed.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.