Illegal Israeli settlers torched Palestinian homes ‘again’ in West Bank, activists say

By Lina Altawell

ISTANBUL (AA) - Activists said illegal Israeli settlers set fire overnight to Palestinian homes in the Bedouin community of Khallet al-Sidra in the occupied West Bank.

Several posts on the US social media platform X shared images and videos that showed homes burning in the village of Mukhamas, northeast of Jerusalem.

“It happened again,” one activist wrote, alleging that settlers attacked the community and set houses ablaze.

Other activists said the incident marked “the third time in three months” that homes in or near Mukhamas had been burned, accusing Israeli authorities of allowing the attacks to occur without accountability.

“Another night of illegal Israeli settler violence in the West Bank,” adding that there had been “no prosecutions” related to similar incidents.

Some posts alleged that Israeli forces were present nearby during the incident and did not intervene.

Activists called on the international community to address “the continuing pattern of settler attacks against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank.”

According to Palestinian figures, Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,109 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and injured nearly 11,000 others since Oct. 2023.

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