Two Palestinians said wounded by settler arson attack in West Bank
Resident of hamlet near Ramallah says locals earlier warned Israeli security forces of potential attack, but troops left before assailants arrived; no immediate comment from IDF
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleDozens of Israeli settlers attacked a Bedouin Palestinian hamlet near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday evening, torching a building and wounding two men who were rushed to the hospital for treatment, Palestinian media reported.
A local told the Haaretz daily that residents of Ma’azi Jaba’ alerted Israeli security forces earlier in the day of a possible attack, as settlers gathered at the nearby illegal outpost of Gur Aryeh.
“It was clear this would happen,” the resident was quoted as saying. “An army jeep came, saw the settlers but didn’t do anything to them. Only when [the settlers] burn your home does [the army] listen to you. It’s too late.”
“If children were sleeping in the home, they would have gone up in flames. People cannot sleep in their homes. We are always afraid the settlers would come,” he added.
The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and there were no reports of arrests.
Such attacks have been taking place across the West Bank on a near-daily basis, with almost complete impunity.
לפני שעה קלה מתנחלים הציתו מבנה בקהילה הבדואית בג׳בע.
גם האירוע הזה לא הגיע בהפתעה – משעות אחהצ זוהו כ20 מתנחלים במאחז הסמוך גור אריה. מאחז שמפונה תדיר לאור זיהויו כמסוכן לבטחון האזור. זכור לחלק מאירוע שחיטת החמור.
תושבים ופעילים חייגו לצבא ולמשטרה. כח צה״ל קפץ למקום לכשעה,… pic.twitter.com/eoa5MUkzeJ
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Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught, there has been a major surge in attacks by settler extremists on Palestinians and their property across the West Bank. The IDF recorded over 750 incidents of Jewish nationalistic crime and settler violence in 2025, while the total for 2024 was 675 incidents.
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