Beit Lid, West Bank – Dozens of Israeli settlers carried out arson attacks targeting a Palestinian warehouse, farmland, and a Bedouin village in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, leaving several Palestinians injured.
The incidents occurred during the olive harvest season, a period when Palestinian farmers typically work their land, and come amid a recent spike in settler violence. The UN’s humanitarian office recently reported that attacks by settlers last month reached the highest level since it began collecting data nearly two decades ago.
Footage from the scene shows masked individuals on a hillside east of Tulkarm, setting fire to lorries at a warehouse in Beit Lid. In the nearby Bedouin village of Deir Sharaf, tents were also set ablaze, with the sounds of residents shouting captured in videos.
Palestinian Authority Minister Muayyad Shaaban, who heads the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, condemned the attacks, describing them as part of a campaign to create “a hostile environment through intimidation and terror.”
Since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, it has built approximately 160 settlements housing around 700,000 Israelis. The settlements, considered illegal under international law, exist alongside an estimated 3.3 million Palestinians who also live in the territory.
