Israeli settlers attack West Bank villages, torch homes and vehicles

RAMALLAH — Israeli settlers have attacked three Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank early Tuesday, setting fire to homes and vehicles and assaulting an elderly woman in the latest such assaults on the territory.Settlers set ablaze two homes belonging to the Tubasi family in Jalud, south of Nablus, hours after the family returned to them under an Israeli court decision after nearly two months of displacement, local sources told Turkish news agency Anadolu on Tuesday.The fires caused extensive damage to the two homes, while the attack spread panic among residents, they said.Villagers tried to confront the settlers before large Israeli army forces arrived at the scene, the sources added.According to the sources, Israeli forces did not stop the attack but instead provided protection to the settlers and sent additional military reinforcements to the area.The forces also compelled members of the Tubasi family to evacuate their home again at gunpoint, the sources added.Mahmoud Al-Tubasi told Anadolu that the family returned under a court decision but found extensive destruction caused by the occupiers, who had taken over the property and prevented its owners from accessing it.The settlers returned during the night and set the house on fire, destroying it and rendering it uninhabitable, he added.In Qaryut, also south of Nablus, settlers assaulted an elderly Palestinian woman after breaking into her home, local sources said.A video filmed by volunteer medic Bashar Al-Qaryuti showed the woman suffering bruises to her hand and head.She said a group of settlers broke down the door of the house and assaulted the elderly woman.In Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah in the central West Bank, Israeli occupiers attacked Palestinian homes and property as Israeli army forces raided the village and detained a young man.The attack targeted three homes, while the assailants set fire to another home belonging to a Palestinian detainee, witnesses told Anadolu.The settlers also torched six vehicles, three of which were partially burned while the other three were destroyed, the witnesses said.In August, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described Israelis involved in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as “terrorists,” warning that such acts cause serious damage to Israel’s image.According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, occupiers carried out 628 attacks across the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, in August.Official Palestinian figures estimate that around 750,000 Israelis live in 194 illegal settlements and 400 outposts in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.