Illegal Israeli settlers attack West Bank village, torch olive fields

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Illegal Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Burqa in the central West Bank on Monday and burnt olive fields, according to witnesses.

A group of illegal settlers set fire to olive fields in the area and hurled rocks at Palestinian homes there, triggering clashes with local villagers, the witnesses said.

It came hours after some 20 Palestinian vehicles were burned in a settler attack early Monday near Al-Bireh city in the central West Bank.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the settler attacks as “an extension of the (Israeli) genocide and expulsion taking place against Palestinians in Gaza.”

According to Palestinian figures, illegal Israeli settlers carried out some 1,490 attacks on Palestinians, lands, and properties last month across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Data from the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now shows that there are half a million illegal settlers in 146 settlements and 224 outposts in the West Bank.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank due to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 43,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 768 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 6,300 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.

The escalation follows a landmark opinion in July by the International Court of Justice that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar