Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian homes and cars in three villages in the occupied West Bank early on Tuesday, in attacks carried out under the protection of Israeli forces, residents said. On the same day, a Palestinian commission warned that an Israeli plan to reopen a settler-only road would cut Ramallah and Al-Bireh in two.
Jalud: a family burned out again
In Jalud, south of Nablus, settlers set fire to two homes belonging to the Al-Tubasi family, Anadolu Agency reported. The family had only just returned to their homes, under an Israeli court decision, after nearly two months of displacement.
“They returned during the night and set the house on fire, destroying it and rendering it uninhabitable,” said Mahmoud Al-Tubasi. Israeli forces protected the attackers and forcibly evacuated family members at gunpoint, according to the report.
Qaryut: an elderly woman beaten
In Qaryut, also south of Nablus, settlers broke into a home and assaulted an elderly Palestinian woman. Video filmed by a medic, Bashar Al-Qaryuti, showed bruises on her hand and head.
Al-Mughayyir: homes and cars set ablaze
In Al-Mughayyir, north-east of Ramallah, settlers attacked and set fire to homes and property, witnesses said. Three homes were targeted, six vehicles were torched (three destroyed and three partly burned), and one home belonging to a Palestinian detainee was set ablaze. Israeli forces detained a young man during the raid.
A road to split Ramallah
The attacks came as the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission warned of an Israeli plan to reopen Route 463 exclusively for settlers. The road was first built in 1994 to connect the illegal settlements of Beit El and Dolev, and was partly closed after the Second Intifada in 2000.
“The road runs through the urban area of Ramallah and Al-Bireh in the central occupied West Bank, separating its northern and southern parts,” the commission said. It warned that reopening it would isolate eight villages and two large neighbourhoods in northern Ramallah and Al-Bireh from the south, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians onto an alternative route near the Jalazone refugee camp, which is already badly congested.
The commission called the plan part of “a systematic policy to fragment Palestinian geographic and demographic contiguity” in the governorate, home to about 400,000 Palestinians in 80 communities. Earlier this month, on September 8, settlers blocked a roundabout near Ein Ayoub and stoned Palestinian vehicles.
The toll of occupation
The attacks are part of a sharp rise in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank:
- 628 settler attacks were recorded in August alone, according to Palestinian figures
- 1,206 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem since October 2023
- About 13,350 injured in the same period
- More than 24,600 detained
On Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said violence and settlement expansion were making life “intolerable” for Palestinians in the West Bank, and called on Israel to protect civilians from settler violence and stop expanding settlements.
Pakistan’s position
Pakistan does not recognise Israel and supports an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. Read our earlier report on the killings in Gaza and the settler incursion into Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque.
This article draws on reporting by Anadolu Agency.
Comments
Comments are reviewed by our editors before they appear. Please keep them civil and on topic. See our terms.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your view.