Israeli settlers torch Palestinian homes in latest West Bank attack
DaysofPal- A group of Israeli settlers launched a violent assault on the Palestinian town of Bruqin, west of Salfit in the northern occupied West Bank, on Thursday evening, setting fire to several homes and causing widespread destruction.
According to eyewitnesses and local sources, settlers stormed the outskirts of the town and deliberately ignited fires in multiple Palestinian homes. The resulting blazes caused extensive material damage and ignited panic among residents. Video footage circulating online shows flames engulfing residential areas as thick smoke rose over the town.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society confirmed that its emergency teams treated eight people suffering from burn injuries caused by the fires. All victims were treated on-site, as access to local medical services continues to be impeded by ongoing Israeli military activity in the area.
Just hours after settlers carried out the arson attacks, Israeli occupation forces re-entered Bruqin in a renewed raid. Heavily armed troops closed internal roads, stormed homes, and conducted widespread searches.
The incursion marked the second in less than 24 hours, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier that day.
Israeli forces had just concluded a nine-day military campaign in Bruqin and the neighboring town of Kafr ad-Dik. That operation, which Israeli authorities claimed was aimed at locating a suspect in a shooting that killed one settler and wounded another, involved sweeping arrests, home invasions, and the conversion of civilian houses into temporary military outposts. One Palestinian, Nael Sami Abdul Rahman Samara, 36, was killed by Israeli gunfire during the incursion last Saturday.
Residents reported significant damage to homes and infrastructure, as well as the disruption of essential services like water and electricity, deepening the humanitarian crisis in the area.
Late Thursday night, Israeli forces also raided the family home of Nael Samara, taking measurements of the property, a procedure typically used by Israeli authorities to prepare for punitive home demolitions. Samara's killing is seen by many Palestinians as part of a wider pattern of targeted assassinations and collective punishment.
The attack in Bruqin is part of a broader and intensifying campaign of settler violence aimed at displacing Palestinians from their lands. According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority, Israeli settlers committed 341 attacks against Palestinians and attempted to establish 10 new settlement outposts in April alone.
Official Palestinian data shows that by the end of 2024, approximately 770,000 settlers were living in 180 settlements and 256 outposts across the West Bank. Of these, 138 are categorized as agricultural or pastoral and are often used as launching points for settler aggression.
The situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has sharply deteriorated amid a surge in Israeli military and settler operations. According to the latest figures from Palestinian authorities, at least 969 Palestinians have been killed, around 7,000 injured, and over 17,000 arrested since the escalation began.
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