Israeli pogroms ravage West Bank towns
Settlers set ablaze homes, cars, and olive trees in several villages in the occupied West Bank under the protection of Israeli forces
Israeli settlers carried out brutal attacks against Palestinians and their property, including arson, in several areas of the occupied West Bank on 4 November and the previous night.
The attacks include attempts at land theft, according to researcher Hassan Breijeh, who said on Monday afternoon that settlers “began plowing dozens of dunams of citizens' lands in the areas of Khalayel al-Loz, Khallet al-Qattan, and Khallet al-Nahla, south of Bethlehem, in preparation for seizing them.”
Settlers also attacked the village of Burqa east of Ramallah earlier on 4 November, setting fire to homes and olive trees.
The settlers stormed the village from three different entrances, WAFA news agency reported, adding that they attempted to raid an elementary school.
Palestinians in the village of Birin near Hebron were pelted by stones earlier on Monday as they were picking olives.
“The olive harvest season in the West Bank has been the subject of repeated attacks by settlers and Israeli occupation forces, which have reached the point of killing, burning, and cutting down olive trees, stealing the crops, and preventing farmers from reaching their lands,” WAFA reported.
In the Umm Nir village, troops forced families to leave the area and barred them from picking olives during the settler attacks.
The attacks were a continuation of a violent pogrom launched by armed settlers in the occupied West Bank on Sunday night.
More than 20 vehicles in the city of Al-Bireh were torched and destroyed by the settlers on the evening of 3 November and overnight.
Armed settlers opened fire at civil defense crews who were trying to put out the fires.
“The arrival of settlers to residential buildings and burning their surroundings is a dangerous indicator of the possibility of them reaching the heart of Al-Bireh or Ramallah and carrying out larger attacks,” a resident told Middle East Eye (MEE). “Settlers don’t enter the Palestinian areas without the cover of the Israeli army,” he added.
In a statement on 4 November, Hamas called for “escalating the confrontation against settlers in the West Bank.”
Over 750 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops and illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank since 7 October last year. Over 6,000 more have been injured.
In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is “illegal” and ordered the evacuation of all settlements.