Palestinians accuse Israeli settlers of impeding firefighters near West Bank village

Palestinian firefighters accused Israeli settlers of obstructing them as they sought to extinguish a large blaze near a Christian village in the West Bank late Tuesday night.

The incident came amid rising strife in the West Bank, where some Western countries announced sanctions on settler groups this week over violent attacks on Palestinians.

Father Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of Taybeh, said settlers had shot firearms and surrounded people trying to take a water tanker to the site to fight the fire.

Palestinian Authority Civil Defense spokesperson Nael al-Azza said the Israel Defense Forces also temporarily stopped firefighters reaching the fire while they arranged security coordination.

Fawadleh and Azza said the firefighters were eventually able to reach the blaze and put it out, though settlers continued trying to obstruct them.

The IDF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the incident. It has not issued any public comment on the event.

The reported attack is the latest in recent months to target Taybeh, where previously, settlers allegedly set fire to cars in the area and tagged a building and a vehicle with graffiti.

The town drew attention last year when US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited following earlier instances of settler violence there. At the time, Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, denounced the arson attack as “an act of terror” and demanded “harsh consequences” for the perpetrators.

Reuters visited the village on Wednesday, where smoke was still rising from a large area of burned hillside. Fawadleh said he believed the fire was a result of arson, but he did not say who he thought was responsible. Palestinian media outlets blamed the blaze on settlers.

“What we are experiencing is not a series of isolated incidents, but an ongoing pattern of intimidation and unjustified violence that undermines our fundamental right to safety, security and dignity,” he said in a statement.

???? فيديو | مشهد يوثق اندلاع حريق عقب إشعال مجموعات المستوطنين النيران على أطراف قرية الطيبة، شرق رام الله pic.twitter.com/5F0eB6Dy8b

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) June 9, 2026

Taybeh is one of the only Christian villages remaining in the West Bank and was visited last year by the Greek Orthodox patriarch and the Roman Catholic cardinal of Jerusalem.

A UN inquiry released on Tuesday accused Israeli authorities of being directly involved in settler attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the West Bank.

The IDF and Israel’s mission in Geneva have completely rejected such allegations.

The IDF said Tuesday that its mission is “to safeguard the security of all residents of Judea and Samaria, Palestinians and Israelis alike.” It added that in situations where there is a suspicion that troops did not adhere to IDF orders, those incidents are “thoroughly examined, and in appropriate cases disciplinary measures are taken by commanders or a criminal investigation is opened to clarify the circumstances.”

Governance in the West Bank has been split since the 1993 Oslo Accords into different zones delineating Israeli and Palestinian Authority control. Parts of Taybeh are located in Area B, where the PA runs civil administration but where security control must be coordinated with Israeli authorities.

France, Britain, Canada and Norway announced on Tuesday coordinated action with sanctions against several settler individuals and entities in response to “record settlement expansion and rising settler violence in the West Bank.” The move was also coordinated with New Zealand and Australia, which announced new sanctions last week, the UK said.

The Israeli military recorded 867 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence in 2025, up from 682 incidents in 2024.