Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian warehouse

On Tuesday, dozens of Israeli settlers set fire to farms, a Bedouin settlement, and a Palestinian warehouse in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

Numerous Palestinians suffered injuries. During the olive harvest season, when Palestinians travel to their agricultural land near towns and villages, there has been an increase in settler violence. These attacks were the most recent in this trend.

It coincides with the UN humanitarian office’s announcement that last month saw the largest number of violent attacks by settlers since it started gathering data over 20 years ago. Since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War, Israel has constructed over 160 settlements that house 700,000 Jews. The Palestinians desire this land, along with Gaza, for a future state.

International law prohibits the settlements.

On a hillside east of Tulkarm, dozens of masked men can be seen in footage from Tuesday. Lorries were set on fire during an attack on a Palestinian warehouse in Beit Lid. In the Bedouin town of Deir Sharaf, tents are on fire, and women can be heard yelling in the distance.

The head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Palestinian Authority Minister Muayyad Shaaban, claimed that the attacks were a part of an effort to create “a hostile environment through intimidation and terror.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that troops went to the scene “to disperse the confrontation using riot dispersal means and apprehended several Israeli civilians”. It added that soldiers were then attacked by settlers gathering nearby and their vehicle was damaged.

Israeli police stated that four suspects were arrested.

In a post on X, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the latest events “shocking and serious”, blaming “a handful of violent and dangerous individuals”.

He went on: “Such violence against civilians and against IDF soldiers crosses a red line and I condemn it severely.”

Over 260 Israeli settler attacks that resulted in deaths, property damage, or both occurred in October, according to the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with an average of eight occurrences per day.

More than 140 Palestinians have been injured and more than 4,200 trees and seedlings have been vandalized in 77 communities as a result of settler violence during the olive harvest, which has reportedly reached its greatest level in recent years. Approximately 150 incidents have been reported thus far. Approximately 1,500 settler attacks have been reported since the beginning of the year.