West Bank Violence Escalates as Settlers Attack Palestinian Villages
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) – Attacks by Israeli settlers across the occupied West Bank have intensified, injuring at least 10 Palestinians Sunday night, following a funeral for an Israeli settler killed in a car crash. The violence underscores a worrying trend of escalating tensions in the region, even as a fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported injuries in Deir al-Hatab, including a 45-year-old man shot in the foot and a woman treated for smoke inhalation. Videos obtained by the Associated Press showed cars and homes ablaze near the village, east of Nablus and adjacent to the Elon Moreh settlement, as flares illuminated the night sky.
The attacks extended to four villages in the Nablus area, coming a day after reports of simultaneous assaults in at least six Palestinian communities. WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, detailed overnight attacks involving arson, pepper spray, and physical assaults, coinciding with the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
The surge in settler violence followed the funeral of Yehuda Sherman, 18, an Israeli settler who died in a collision with a Palestinian vehicle. Israeli police are investigating claims that the collision was deliberate.
The escalating violence is occurring as Israel’s government continues to advance new settlements in the West Bank. Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, head of the Israeli military, recently condemned such attacks, deeming them “especially unacceptable during wartime.”
Israeli security forces detained five Israeli civilians and confiscated weapons while attempting to restore order Sunday night, though clashes with both Israeli and Palestinian civilians resulted in injuries.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 25 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers since the beginning of the year, as of March 15.
Meanwhile, four Palestinians were killed Sunday in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip. Hospital authorities reported three police officers were killed in a strike on a vehicle in the Nuseirat refugee camp, while another Palestinian was killed in Gaza City. These deaths add to a toll of over 670 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the start of a more than two-year conflict between Israel and Hamas, despite a ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli military has stated it will respond to violations of the ceasefire and threats to its soldiers, but did not immediately comment on Sunday’s strikes.
(France 24 with AP)
