Illegal Israeli settlers vandalize, set ablaze Palestinian properties in northern West Bank

According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the settlers from the Yitzhar settlement attacked the Huwara town, south of Nablus city, and burned a house and two cars.

It added that another group of illegal settlers attacked the Beit Furik town, east of Nablus, and also set fire to an under-construction house, a market and a car.

The news agency reported that the Civil Defense extinguished three fires caused by the settlers.

According to Palestinian sources, Israeli settlers staged nearly 1,500 attacks over the past years against Palestinians, their land, and properties across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Data from Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement organization, indicates that over half a million settlers reside illegally in 147 settlements and 224 outposts in the West Bank.

Tension has been running high in the West Bank due to Israel’s brutal war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 44,500 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack last year.

At least 803 Palestinians have since been killed and over 6,450 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

In July, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.