West Bank: Israeli Settlers Raid 2 Palestines Villages

Israel’s forces arresting Palestine Villagers, Dec 20204 Photo: Apple News

December 4, 2024 Hour: 2:24 pm

On Wednesday, Israeli settlers wounded a Palestinian and set buildings on fire during raids in two villages in the occupied West Bank, following the eviction of a nearby settlement outpost by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.

The Israeli army reported that “Israeli civilians entered the village of Beit Furik,” east of the Palestinian city of Nablus, adding that they “set property on fire and hurled stones.” Local authorities told AFP that the attacks took place early Wednesday morning.

The army stated that the settlers reacted after Israeli forces “acted against illegal construction by Israeli civilians adjacent to the town of Beit Furik” on Tuesday night, triggering clashes during which settlers injured two policemen with stones. Nahi Hanani, deputy head of the Beit Furik council, told AFP that dozens of settlers attacked the village “setting fire to a truck in front of one house and another vehicle” early Wednesday. “They also set fire to a grocery store in the village, and another house was slightly damaged,” he said.

The army reported that Israelis also “set property on fire and threw stones” in Huwara, a town south of Nablus. Rana Abu Hania, spokeswoman for Huwara’s town hall, confirmed to AFP that one resident was injured when settlers attacked the town early Wednesday. “They burned two cars and the house of one citizen… The army also demolished a used car lot,” said Abu Hania.

📃During the reporting period, the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) and Israeli settlers have continued their violent actions against Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, amounting to crimes and other violations of international law.… pic.twitter.com/Hywm5Vf0w0
— Palestinian Centre for Human Rights – PCHR (@pchrgaza) December 4, 2024

Yusef Awadi, a resident of Huwara, told AFP that settlers burned his brother’s house Wednesday morning. “They set fire to the Jeep and to the car outside… They entered the house, set it on fire, and then left,” said the 66-year-old man, adding that his brother Tayseer was hospitalized. “He was hit on the head and… was transferred to Rafidia Hospital,” Awadi told AFP, adding that had his brother’s family not been awake, “they would have all burned with the house.”

In a joint statement, the Israeli army and police said that eight suspects were arrested in connection with investigations into the Beit Furik and Huwara attacks “for assaulting security forces, engaging in friction, and causing damage to property.” The army also mentioned clashes between its troops and “about 20 Israelis” in Rujeib, a town closer to Nablus, on Tuesday evening.

The West Bank is home to around three million Palestinians as well as 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law. Violence in the occupied Palestinian territory has surged since war broke out in Gaza on October 7 last year following Hamas’s attack on Israel. According to the Ramallah-based health ministry, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 788 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war.