Israeli settlers launched a series of attacks on villages in the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate in the central occupied West Bank on Sunday evening, setting vehicles ablaze, assaulting Palestinian farmers, and attempting to set fire to a mosque. The incidents represent the latest surge in settler violence that the United Nations has described as reaching record levels.
In the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah, a group of settlers torched a car parked near the al-Nour mosque, smashed the mosque's doors, and set a fire at its entrance before fleeing. Local residents managed to extinguish the blaze before significant damage was done. In the nearby town of Deir Dibwan, settlers burned two vehicles and damaged two others in the al-Marah area near the town's western entrance. A third incident unfolded in Deir Abu Mishal, northwest of Ramallah, where settlers pelted Palestinians with stones as they attempted to reach their agricultural land, triggering confrontations before Israeli army forces intervened. No injuries or arrests were reported in that incident.
The Israeli army confirmed it had deployed forces across central West Bank locations in response to what it described as arson attacks and "violent riots carried out by Israeli civilians." It said troops were working to disperse the unrest, extinguish fires, and prevent further clashes, and stated that the army "firmly condemns all acts of violence." Israeli forces also separately entered the towns of Silwad and Yabrud east of Ramallah, with military vehicles driving through the streets without making arrests, and conducted raids on the town of Beita, south of Nablus, and the outskirts of the village of Raboud near the southern West Bank city of Dura.
The attacks occur against a backdrop of sharply escalating settler violence since the outbreak of the Gaza war, triggered by the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last week that settler attacks in the occupied West Bank had reached a record pace, averaging six incidents per day resulting in casualties or property damage. More than 2,200 Palestinians have been displaced this year alone as a result of settler violence, movement restrictions, and demolitions carried out by Israeli authorities.
The West Bank, a territory of roughly three million Palestinians, has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967. More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live there — not including annexed East Jerusalem — in communities considered illegal under international law by the United Nations. The pattern of attacks, which includes burning vehicles, uprooting agricultural land, and blocking farmers from their fields, has been particularly intense in areas surrounding settlements and outposts, raising urgent questions about accountability and protection for Palestinian civilians.