Israeli occupiers attack 3 West Bank villages, torch homes, vehicles

Israeli occupiers attacked three Palestinian villages in the West Bank early Tuesday, setting fire to homes and vehicles and assaulting an elderly woman, as Israeli forces raided several areas in the occupied territory.

In Jalud, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, a large group of occupiers attacked two homes belonging to the Al-Tubasi family and set them ablaze, hours after the family returned under an Israeli court decision following nearly two months of displacement, local sources told Anadolu.

The fires caused extensive damage to the two homes, while the attack spread panic among residents, they said.

Villagers tried to confront the occupiers before large Israeli army forces arrived at the scene, the sources added.

According to the sources, Israeli forces did not stop the attack but instead provided protection to the occupiers and sent additional military reinforcements to the area.

The forces also compelled members of the Al-Tubasi family to evacuate their home again at gunpoint, the sources added.

Mahmoud Al-Tubasi, a house owner, told Anadolu that the family returned under the court decision but found extensive destruction caused by the occupiers, who had taken over the property and prevented its owners from accessing it.

The occupiers returned during the night and set the house on fire, destroying it and rendering it uninhabitable, he added.

Escalating assaults

In Qaryut, also south of Nablus, Israeli occupiers assaulted an elderly Palestinian woman after breaking into her home, local sources said.

A video filmed by volunteer medic Bashar Al-Qaryuti showed the woman suffering bruises to her hand and head.

She said a group of occupiers broke down the door of the house and assaulted the elderly woman.

In Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah in the central West Bank, Israeli occupiers attacked Palestinian homes and property as Israeli army forces raided the village and detained a young man.

The attack targeted three homes, while the assailants set fire to another home belonging to a Palestinian detainee, witnesses told Anadolu.

The occupiers also torched six vehicles, three of which were partially burned while the other three were destroyed, the witnesses said.

In August, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described Israeli occupiers involved in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as "terrorists," warning that such acts cause serious damage to Israel's image.

In June, 14 UN special rapporteurs warned that the sharp rise in "settler terror" with state support and complicity in the occupied Palestinian territory posed an existential threat to Palestinian communities.

According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, occupiers carried out 628 attacks across the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, in August.

Official Palestinian figures estimate that around 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, in 194 illegal settlements and 400 outposts.

Since the start of Israel's genocide on Gaza in October 2023, Israeli forces and occupiers have intensified attacks across the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, killing 1,206 Palestinians, injuring around 13,350 others, and detaining more than 24,600, according to Palestinian figures.