Israeli settlers have attacked a Palestinian village in the northern occupied West Bank, setting fire to homes and vehicles, the latest in a wave of pogroms across the territory.<\/p>\n
Settlers set ablaze two homes belonging to the Tubasi family, hours after the family attempted to return to them under an Israeli court decision following nearly two months of displacement, local sources told Turkiye\u2019s Anadolu news agency on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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Villagers tried to confront the settlers before Israeli forces arrived at the scene, the sources added.<\/p>\n
The fires caused extensive damage to the two homes, while the attack spread panic among residents, the sources told Anadolu.<\/p>\n
According to the sources, Israeli forces provided protection to the settlers and sent additional military reinforcements to the area.<\/p>\n
Israeli forces also compelled members of the Tubasi family to evacuate their home again at gunpoint, the sources added.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Israeli military said more than 100 settlers rioted in Jalud overnight, preventing Israeli forces from facilitating the return of a displaced Palestinian family to their home by blocking roads, setting tyres on fire and throwing stones at security forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cSoldiers and Israel Border Police forces operated in the area of Jalud to disperse Israeli rioters and protect the residents of the area, as the return of a Palestinian family to their home in the area had been coordinated,\u201d a statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the violence, the mission to return the family to their home was not completed,\u201d the military added.<\/p>\n
Mahmoud Tubasi, a homeowner, told Anadolu that the family returned under the court decision but found extensive destruction caused by settlers who had taken over the property and prevented its owners from accessing it.<\/p>\n
The settlers returned during the night and set the house on fire, destroying it and rendering it uninhabitable, he added.<\/p>\n
The Tubasi family was forced to leave their home in Jalud in July following repeated harassment and violence by settlers.<\/p>\n
Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has been steadily growing since the eruption of Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, but the pogroms<\/a> intensified significantly this year.<\/p>\n The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recorded more than 1,330 settler-related attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank from January to late July, averaging six a day and marking the fastest pace in about 20 years.<\/p>\n Various settler groups<\/a>, often supported or protected by Israeli soldiers, have attacked Palestinians in several ways, including shootings, besieging homes and engaging in other forms of communal violence that experts have described as \u201cpogroms<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n Israeli raids continue<\/p>\n In a separate attack on Tuesday,\u00a0Israeli settlers assaulted an elderly Palestinian woman after breaking into her home in Qaryut, south of Nablus, local sources also told Anadolu.<\/p>\n A video filmed by volunteer medic Bashar Al-Qaryuti showed the woman suffering bruises to her hand and head.<\/p>\n She said a group of settlers broke down the door of the house and assaulted the woman.<\/p>\n In Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes and property as Israeli army forces raided the village and detained a young man.<\/p>\n The attack targeted three homes, while the assailants set fire to another home belonging to a Palestinian detainee, witnesses told Anadolu.<\/p>\n \u201cThe frequent and severe violence must be brought to an end,\u201d said Julien Lerisson, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross\u2019s delegation for Israel and the occupied territory, on Monday about the rising settler activity.<\/p>\n \u201cAuthorities have a responsibility to protect the population from violence, including when that violence is inflicted by settlers. What international humanitarian law says on the protection of private and public property, and on the population\u2019s access to essential services, must be respected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n