Settler escalation in Ramadan.. Homes and vehicles burned, injuries in scattered attacks in Hebron and Nablus

Settlers escalated their field attacks in various areas of the occupied West Bank, coinciding with the nights of the blessed month of Ramadan. Groups of settlers carried out a widespread attack on Tuesday evening targeting the village of Susiya in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, where they deliberately set fire to citizens' properties and homes.

The human rights organization "Al-Baydar" confirmed in a statement that the attack resulted in the burning of five homes and several vehicles belonging to Palestinian families living in the area. These fires caused extensive material damage, in addition to spreading a state of extreme terror among the local residents, especially children and women who found themselves surrounded by fire and attacks.

Local sources reported that the settlers did not stop at setting fires, but deliberately fired tear gas canisters inside homes while families were inside. This aggressive behavior resulted in four Palestinian citizens suffering severe suffocation, which was dealt with on the ground amid great difficulties in reaching the area.

Video clips captured by surveillance cameras and published by news platforms documented moments of masked settlers storming the village carrying incendiary materials. The scenes showed vehicles and homes simultaneously catching fire, while media sources confirmed this account through footage showing the extent of the destruction left by the attackers before their withdrawal.

In a related context, shepherds in Khirbet Aqwaweis in Masafer Yatta were chased and attacked by settlers who tried to prevent them from reaching the pastures. Sources stated that the settlers deliberately released their livestock around the homes of citizens in Khirbet al-Halawa, al-Markaz, and al-Tabban, in a move aimed at restricting the livelihoods of Palestinians and forcing them to leave.

The Wadi Sa'ir area north of Hebron witnessed a gathering of armed settlers who set out from the "Asfar" settlement located on citizens' lands. The attackers blocked the main road and prevented Palestinian vehicles from crossing the bypass road, which led to traffic obstruction and the detention of dozens of citizens for hours at gunpoint.

As for the northern West Bank, dozens of Palestinian youths confronted an attack launched by settlers on the Jabal Bir Qouza area in the town of Beita, south of Nablus. Clashes erupted in the area after settlers attempted to storm the town's lands, where residents succeeded in repelling the attack and forcing the aggressors to retreat towards nearby settlements.

This new wave of violence is an extension of a statistical report that recorded about 468 settler attacks in January alone. These attacks varied between direct physical violence, uprooting fruit trees, and burning agricultural crops, as part of a systematic policy aimed at isolating farmers from their historical lands.

Data indicates that there are about 770,000 settlers distributed among hundreds of settlements and pastoral outposts in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Since the start of the aggression on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, these attacks have doubled with the support of the occupation forces, leading to the martyrdom of 1117 Palestinians in the West Bank and the arrest of thousands, amid warnings of plans to annex the West Bank and displace its residents.

Settlers deliberately fired tear gas canisters inside inhabited homes, causing injuries and a state of panic among women and children.