Israeli settlers have stepped up attempts to expel Palestinians from their villages in the occupied West Bank [Getty]
Israeli settlers continued their violent rampage against Palestinian villages and towns in the occupied West Bank on Monday, attacking farmers, vandalising buildings, and uprooting trees.
The latest attacks came after calls by settlers on social media to carry out “revenge and expulsion of the enemy”, following similar incendiary posts on Saturday.
In Masafer Yatta, settlers attacked shepherds and farmers in the al-Rakeez village, and later pepper-sprayed two men, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency. The injured Palestinians were taken to the Yatta Government Hospital for treatment.
During the attack, settlers unleashed dogs on the villagers’ livestock, injuring several animals.
Elsewhere in Masafer Yatta, Israeli forces detained Huwara village resident Ibrahim Muhammad Makhameh after settlers trespassed onto his land and released their animals near his crops.
Israeli forces escorted settlers who attacked shepherds in Khirbet Wadi Abu Shaban in Masafer Yatta, firing teargas at the locals as the settlers attempted to steal livestock.
At the Huwara Secondary School for Boys south of Nablus, settlers broke into the building, vandalised property and raised an Israeli flag.
Hassan Mleihat, the general supervisor of the Al-Baydar human rights organisation, said settlers uprooted olive trees in Jabal Sabih, south of Nablus, and attacked homes in the town of Qusra. Settlers also stormed Khirbet Hamroush, east of Sa’ir, north of Hebron, and threatened the residents.
Israeli settlers have escalated attacks on Palestinians – which were already at record levels – over the past three days, with Israeli figures and media outlets framing the violence as being in relation to the death of settler Yehuda Shmuel Sherman.
Sherman, 18, was killed in a traffic collision involving a Palestinian driver, with Israelis claiming that the crash was deliberate. However, a security source cited by Haaretz said it appeared to be an accident.
At Sherman’s funeral, far-right Finance Minister and settler Bezalel Smotrich pledged to “bring down the evil, terrorist entity known as the Palestinian Authority”, and said Israeli Jews would “settle every part of our land”, referring to the whole of historic Palestine.
Sherman’s father, Yehuda, struck a similar tone, lashing out at the Oslo Accords and claiming that “the entire Land of Israel is Ours”.
He also described his son as a “sacrifice” for the settlement movement, pledging to build three new illegal outposts in his memory.
On Saturday and Sunday, settlers rampaged through several areas of the occupied West Bank, carrying out arson attacks and throwing stones at Palestinian homes.
Israeli officials cited by Haaretz said at least 20 attacks took place overnight on Saturday into Sunday. No Israelis were arrested as of Sunday morning, the report added.
Last week, the United Nations’ Human Rights Office (OCHA) reported a 54 percent increase in injuries from settler attacks and a more than fourfold increase in displacement caused by the violence.
Human Rights Watch warned earlier this month that settlers have been using the cover of Israel’s war on Iran to escalate attacks. The rights group also said settler violence in the occupied West Bank is set to surpass 2025, when Israeli settler violence reached a two-decade high and saw nine Palestinians killed by armed settlers.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces carried out arrests, raids, and demolitions in the occupied West Bank amid the settler rampage.
In al-Mughayyir, Israeli forces forced Palestinian shepherds to leave their grazing lands, as settlers carried out attacks.
In southern Hebron, the army demolished Palestinian homes and sheep pens, as well as a home in Khirbet al-Marajem, south of Nablus.
Settlers also demolished a house wall in the town of Beita, also south of Nablus.
Palestinians and rights groups have long accused Israeli forces of working in tandem with illegal settlers, providing cover for the attacks by settlers, who aim to pave the way for formal annexation by Israel of the illegally occupied Palestinian territory.
