Israeli settlers commit arson and vandalism despite attacks in the West Bank | News about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank set fire to farmland and scrawled racist slogans in a village near Ramallah, according to media reports. as arson and deadly Israeli military attacks have escalated in recent days.
The attacks came after Ronen Bar, head of Israel’s Shin Bet (Shabak) internal security agency, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to give the green light for a major military offensive in the occupied territory.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency, citing witnesses, reported on Friday that a group of settlers attacked a farm in the suburb of Khirbet Abu Falah where they burned a shed and left racist graffiti on the walls in Hebrew.
Footage posted online by the Quds News Network shows the alleged arson.
Palestinian Civil Defense crews were deployed to put out the fire. No one was injured in the attack on Thursday evening.
Wafa reported that Khirbet Abu Falah, as well as the town of Turmus Aya and the village of al-Mughayyir, all northeast of Ramallah, were the subject of repeated attacks by Israeli settlers, who allegedly carried them out under the protection of Israeli soldiers.
Earlier, Israeli settlers also set a Palestinian-owned vehicle on fire in the village of Wadi Rahhal, south of Bethlehem, according to Al Quds Today.
This was followed by the latest attacks by Israeli settlers Palestinian gunmen killed three Israeli settlers near the illegal settlement of Kedumim on Monday.
In the first week of 2025, attacks by Israeli settlers injured at least 18 Palestinians across the occupied territory, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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 under disputed circumstances, OCHA reported.
The data did not include the other three Palestinians, including two children, who were killed in an Israeli drone attack in the city of Tammun, also in the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday.
On Friday, Israeli forces continued their attacks on the occupied West Bank, firing shells and arresting several Palestinians.
In Qabatiya, south of Jenin, Israeli forces, disguised in civilian clothes, surrounded a house and bombarded it with missiles, Wafa said, citing residents of the area.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Since the beginning of 2025, more than 50 Palestinians have been displaced Israeli demolitions of houses throughout the occupied West Bankaccording to OCHA.
During the night, several Israeli raids were reported throughout Nablus with the arrest of several young Palestinians.
A video posted on Telegram and confirmed by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency shows the moment Israeli forces lined up and captured dozens of young men during an attack on the city of Deir Istiya, northwest of Sulfite.
Israeli forces also attacked the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem; the city of Nilin, west of Ramallah; the villages of Hajjah and Baqat al-Hatab, east of Qalqilya; and Jalazone refugee campa frequent target of Israeli military operations.
On Friday, the Shin Bet’s Bar was quoted on Channel 12 news that Israel should to study from October 7 Hamas attacks and launches a major offensive in the occupied West Bank.
“A massive, reality-changing move must be launched to collapse and eliminate the phenomenon of armed Palestinian battalions… to ensure our freedom of action there.”
