Settlers launch major West Bank arson attack; IDF, police arrest four suspects

Footage shows dozens of masked settlers gathered on hillside as factory, trucks burn below; IDF says it detained several suspects, troops later attacked by group of settlers nearby

By Nurit Yohanan, Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff 11 November 2025, 9:15 pm
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Footage posted on X shows the aftermath of an alleged settler attack near Tulkarem on November 11, 2025. (Social media: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Dozens of Israeli settlers launched a large-scale arson attack on Palestinians in the West Bank on Tuesday, targeting factories and farmland between the major cities of Nablus and Tulkarem.

According to the military, soldiers detained several Israeli settlers who participated in the attack after troops were called to the scene. The suspects were then transferred to the Israel Police, which announced that it had taken four Israeli citizens into custody for questioning.

After the arrests, the IDF said that its troops were attacked by a group of settlers in a nearby industrial zone where suspects had fled to, and that a military vehicle was vandalized.

The arrests marked a rare instance of law enforcement acting against settler violence in the West Bank, which has been occurring on a near-daily basis in recent months with almost complete impunity.

The attack Tuesday drew an explicit rebuke by President Isaac Herzog, who, attributing it to “a handful of violent and dangerous individuals,” posted on X: “Such violence against civilians and against IDF soldiers crosses a red line and I condemn it.”

“All state authorities must act decisively to eradicate the phenomenon and to strengthen the IDF fighters and security forces who protect us day and night,” he added.

During the attack, settlers set fire to a factory building in an industrial zone and several surrounding agricultural lands near the villages of Bayt Lid and Dayr Sharaf, according to Palestinian media reports.

Footage posted to social media showed several large trucks engulfed in flames, as well as significant damage to a number of nearby buildings.

According to the Palestinian Wafa news agency, dozens of Israeli settlers took part in the attack, with footage showing a large number of masked individuals watching from a distance as smoke expanded across the impacted West Bank hilltops.

As a group of local Bedouins gathered in the area, Wafa added, settlers then began throwing rocks at them, injuring several.

The agency reported that at least two people suffered head wounds during the attack, and were later taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

According to Wafa, a group of IDF soldiers then arrived at the scene and blocked Palestinians from trying to put out the fires.

Asked for comment, the military said it dispatched troops to Bayt Lid and Dayr Sharaf following reports of dozens of masked Israelis attacking Palestinians in the villages and setting fire to property.

Troops then detained several suspects, the IDF added.

According to the military, four Palestinians were injured in the attack, and damage was caused to property.

“Security forces worked to disperse the [suspects] using riot dispersal means, and detained and arrested several Israeli civilians,” the IDF said, adding that the suspects were handed over to the police.

The IDF said that a short while later, dozens of Israelis gathered at the nearby Baron Industrial Zone, where many of the masked Israeli assailants had fled to.

After arriving, the troops were then attacked by the settlers gathered there, the military said, adding that an IDF vehicle was vandalized.

The army said that it “strongly condemns all forms of violence that divert the attention of commanders and soldiers from their missions of defense and counterterrorism.”

The Israel Police later said that four Israeli suspects had been taken in for questioning. The investigation into the settler attack is being led by the police’s West Bank district, alongside the Shin Bet security agency, police added.

A Palestinian man uses a mobile phone to record a burning truck after an Israeli settler attack in the village of Beit Lid, east of Tulkarem, West Bank, on November 11, 2025. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Since the beginning of October, the West Bank has seen a sharp increase in settler attacks, coinciding with the annual olive harvest. In that time, settlers, and sometimes soldiers, have carried out near-daily violence against olive pickers, who sometimes include volunteers from Israel and abroad, Jewish and otherwise.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday that it recorded 264 settler attacks that caused casualties, property damage, or both during October.

The attacks come amid soaring levels of settler violence since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.

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