25 Palestinians injured as illegal settlers rampage through village in occupied West Bank

Twenty-five Palestinians were injured Friday after illegal settlers, under the protection of Israeli forces, stormed the village of Talfit south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to a local official.

Mahmoud Abu Aisha, head of the village council, told Anadolu that the settlers carried out a coordinated assault on residents and property, while Israeli troops fired tear gas toward villagers.

He said 15 people suffered suffocation from tear gas, one was wounded by live fire, and nine others were beaten during the attack.

The illegal settlers also smashed the windows of 10 vehicles and damaged four homes, disrupted an electricity transformer and fired live ammunition toward a mosque in the village, Abu Aisha added.

Earlier, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported an initial toll of three injuries, including a man shot in the thigh and two others assaulted.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said illegal settlers attacked residents and opened fire, while Israeli forces provided cover and used live ammunition, stun grenades and tear gas against civilians and their homes.

Illegal settlers also stormed the Ras al-Ain area in the nearby town of Qusra, where a new settlement outpost has recently been established, attacking residents under military protection, Wafa reported.

According to the Palestinian Commission for Resistance of the Wall and Settlements, illegal settlers carried out 468 attacks across the West Bank in January, including physical assaults, arson, property damage and restrictions on farmers' access to their land.

Israel has intensified operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since launching its military campaign in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. Palestinians view the escalation, including killings, arrests, displacement and settlement expansion, as a step toward formal annexation of the territory.

At least 1,112 Palestinians have been killed and about 11,500 injured in the West Bank during that period, and more than 21,000 people have been arrested.

In a landmark opinion in July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.