Settlers burn cars and attack IDF soldiers as Israeli West Bank violence rises

In the early hours of Monday morning, Palestinians in Ramallah awoke to the sound of their cars burning. 

"I heard movement, and looked out and saw about 10 to 12 settlers, each one carrying something, some sort of substance they were pouring on cars and [then] setting on fire," local resident Ihab al-Zaben told the Guardian. 

"I yelled at them, but they did not care, and went on burning cars, and going on their way. When we came down to try and extinguish the fire, they started shooting at us."

Later the same day, settlers attacked two female IDF soldiers outside Giv'at Asaf – an illegal West Bank outpost – before fleeing, while others tried to set fire to nearby olive trees.

The quick succession of incidents has triggered fresh calls for Jerusalem to act.

Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the American government was alarmed by the regular attacks.

“These violent actions cause immense human suffering for Palestinians, they threaten Israel’s security, make the realisation of a two-state solution more difficult, and undermine the prospects for peace and stability throughout the region,” he told reporters.

Settler violence had already begun to rise before the October 7 attack. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, attacks on Palestinians increased when a coalition government featuring Likud and several far right parties took power in 2022.

Since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas, however, the number of attacks has shot up. According to Crisis Group, there have been over 1,000 incidents of settler violence over the last year, in which over 1,300 Palestinians have been driven from their homes.

Monday also saw Palestinians near Hebron being attacked by settlers who damaged property, assaulted civilians and released dogs to attack residents.

In Jalud, a village near Nablus, dozens of Israelis are reported to have killed livestock, set fire to vehicles and attacked homes.

Hagit Ofran, the co-director of Settlement Watch, told the BBC: “Settlers who live on the hilltop [outposts] see themselves as ‘protecting lands’ and their daily job is to kick out Palestinians from the area.”

In one recent incident detailed by the Financial Times, armed settlers threatened Palestinians with guns when they tried to stop them from damaging their olive trees.

The Israelis are said to have followed them to their village of At-Tuwani, located in the south Hebron hills, before shooting at them.

The next day, the settlers returned with a soldier.

Video footage obtained by human rights group B’Tselem shows the men approaching Zakariya Adra, a Palestinian resident of At-Tuwani, before shooting him in the chest at almost point blank range.

After being admitted to hospital, doctors discovered that he had been hit with a "dum-dum" round that had expanded in his stomach and caused so much damage that he later had to have a colostomy bag fitted.

Asked about the incident by the FT, the IDF said: “A real-time examination revealed that the published video does not embody the incident in its entirety and [there are] therefore no grounds to pursue further proceedings against the soldier.”

Last month, the British government announced sanctions against three illegal settler outposts and four bodies that have supported violence eminating from them.

"When I went to the West Bank earlier this year, on one of my first trips as Foreign Secretary, I met with Palestinians whose communities have suffered horrific violence at the hands of Israeli settlers,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said at the time.

“The inaction of the Israeli government has allowed an environment of impunity to flourish where settler violence has been allowed to increase unchecked. Settlers have shockingly even targeted schools and families with young children.”

Radical settlers are believed to feel emboldened in part because they have powerful supporters in the Israeli government.

When settlers attacked the West Bank town of Huwara last year setting homes on fire and shooting dead one Palestinian, Finance Minister Bazael Smotrich liked a post on X saying the area should be “wiped out”.

Asked about the incident later, he said: “I think the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it.”

For now, settler leaders are pinning their hopes on a Republican victory in the US Presidential election.

"If Trump takes the election, there will be no sanctions," Israel Ganz, chairman of the Yesha settler council, told Reuters.

"If Trump loses the election, we will in the state of Israel ... have a problem with sanctions that the government over here has to deal with."