Israeli settlers commit arson and vandalism in spate of West Bank attacks

According to reports from the occupied West Bank, as arson attacks and deadly Israeli military raids have gotten worse in recent days, Israeli settlers have set farmland on fire and sprayed racist slogans on a village close to Ramallah.

The attacks came as Shin Bet (Shabak), the head of Israel’s internal security agency, demanded on Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approve a significant military offensive in the occupied territory.

According to a report from a group of settlers who burned a shed and left racist graffiti on the walls of a farm on the outskirts of Khirbet Abu Falah on Friday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, which quoted witnesses.

The alleged arson attack was depicted in video that the Quds News Network published online.

To put an end to the blaze, Palestinian civil defense teams were dispatched. The Thursday night attack left no reports of injuries.

According to Wafa, Israeli settlers have repeatedly raided Khirbet Abu Falah, Turmus Aya, and al-Mughayyir, all of which are located northeast of Ramallah. They allegedly carried them out under Israeli soldiers’ protection.

Earlier, Israeli settlers also torched a Palestinian-owned vehicle in the village of Wadi Rahhal, south of Bethlehem, according to Al Quds Today.

Three Israeli settlers were shot and killed by Palestinian gunmen near Kedumim, which was where three Israeli settlers were most recently targeted.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 18 Palestinians were hurt in Israeli-sponsored attacks in the first week of 2025.

During the same period, at least three Palestinians, including a teenager, were killed by Israeli forces, while three other Palestinians, including a child, were killed in disputed circumstances, OCHA reported.

The three additional Palestinians killed on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank town of Tammun, along with two children, were not included in the data.

On Friday, Israeli forces continued to carry out raids across the occupied West Bank, firing grenades and arresting several Palestinians.

In Qabatiya, south of Jenin, Israeli forces, disguised in civilian clothing, surrounded a house and bombarded it with projectiles, according to Wafa quoting residents in the area.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

More than 50 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli home demolitions in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2025, according to OCHA.

Numerous Israeli raids across Nablus were reported overnight, and several young Palestinians were among them.

The footage was spotted by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, which was based on footage that was posted on Telegram and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency.

Israeli forces also raided al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, the town of Nilin, west of Ramallah, the villages of Hajjah and Baqat al-Hatab, east of Qalqilya, and Jalazone refugee camp, a frequent target of Israeli military operations.

Shin Bet’s Bar was cited as saying on Friday in a Channel 12 news report that Israel should take lessons from the Hamas attack on October 7 and launch a major offensive in the West Bank.

Source: Aljazeera