UPDATE - Illegal Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian home, attack farmers, journalists in occupied West Bank

UPDATES WITH ANOTHER ATTACK; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) - Illegal Israeli settlers set fire early Saturday to a Palestinian home in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, and assaulted farmers, journalists, and foreign activists near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, local media said.

A group of illegal settlers stormed the outskirts of the Abu Falah village and torched the one-story home, causing parts of the house to burn, local sources told the state news agency Wafa.

Israeli forces raided the area and opened fire at residents who gathered near the scene, though no injuries were reported, the agency said.

The UN warned on Friday of a sharp rise in illegal Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, reporting 264 settler attacks in October alone, the highest monthly toll in nearly two decades.

“That's the highest monthly toll in nearly two decades of record keeping, averaging more than eight incidents every single day since 2006,” UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said, citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In a separate attack, Palestinian farmers, journalists, and foreign activists sustained fractures and bruises after illegal settlers assaulted them during an olive-harvesting activity in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, Wafa said.

Mohammad Hamayel, deputy mayor of Beita, said that illegal settlers attacked participants harvesting olives in the Qamas Mountain area.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medical teams treated several injured people and transferred them to hospitals, but did not specify a number.

Among those injured were foreign solidarity activists, paramedics, and journalists, including Reuters reporter Raneen Sawafta and two journalists from Al Jazeera, according to local sources cited by Anadolu.

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.