Israeli settlers attack Palestinian homes in West Bank under army cover

Armed Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes and agricultural land in several occupied West Bank towns on Saturday under the protection of Israeli army forces, targeting villages in Ramallah and Nablus governorates and sparking confrontations with local residents, sources told Anadolu Agency. The assaults included attempts to storm residential buildings and the use of live fire in some locations, though no casualties were reported in the latest incidents.

Ramallah governorate

In the town of Turmus Ayya northeast of Ramallah, settlers grazed sheep on olive groves near residential areas and surrounded a house in the eastern district in an apparent attempt to storm the building, the sources said. Israeli soldiers subsequently raided the town to secure the area for the settlers, preventing residents from intervening.

Similar scenes unfolded in nearby Sinjil, where armed settlers entered the western quarter of the town before locals confronted the group, according to the same sources. Israeli forces arrived concurrently to protect the settlers during the incident, which ended without reported injuries.

Nablus area

In Nablus Governorate to the north, attackers hurled stones at the Tubasi family home in Jalud village — a property that has faced repeated assaults from settlers residing in a nearby outpost — though no casualties were recorded, the sources noted. The family has been subjected to ongoing harassment from residents of the adjacent settlement, according to local accounts.

Settlers also stormed the entrance to Burin village in southern Nablus, firing live ammunition at Palestinian youths and attacking homes before withdrawing, with no injuries reported during that incident either. Israeli army units provided security coverage for the attackers during the operation, the sources added.

Escalation since October

The Saturday incidents form part of a broader surge in settler violence across the West Bank that has accompanied Israeli military operations since October 2023. Palestinian authorities report that 1,169 Palestinians have been killed and 12,666 wounded in the occupied territory including East Jerusalem during this period, alongside 23,000 arrests and the displacement of 33,000 people.