US support for Israel fuels settler violence in West Bank: Presidency

The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned in the strongest terms an attack by extremist Jewish settlers on a village on the northern side of the West Bank, holding blind US support responsible for the Israel regime’s persistence in violating international law.

On Saturday, Nabil Abu Rudeineh denounced the assault on the village of Beit Furik, east of Nablus, where settlers attacked Palestinian homes and set on fire several agricultural farms, as the latest example of Israeli colonial terrorism. 

He drew parallels between violent attacks by Israeli settlers as well as the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the continued repression of Palestinian refugees in West Bank camps, demanding an international response in the face of the escalation of settler violence.

Abu Rudeineh held the US responsible for Israel’s persistence in defying international law due to its continuous support through money, weapons and political cover.

“Our people will remain steadfast in the face of the occupation and its crimes, and will confront these crimes, clinging to their land, holy sites and rights, stressing that Israeli terrorism by the occupation army and colonists, and American support will not achieve security and stability in the entire region,” he said.

Israeli settlers torch Palestinian cars, homes in West Bank town

Israeli settlers shielded by troops have stormed the town of Bireh, setting on fire Palestinian property and vehicles.

Dozens of masked settlers stormed the village of Beit Furik on Saturday morning, and set fire to a car and farm buildings, according to local media reports.

Footage shared online showed a small building surrounded by olive groves on fire and a car burning.

In a second video, a fight appears to have broken out between hooded masked settlers and local Palestinians throwing stones at each other and shouting at them to leave.

The development comes as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been subjected to violent attacks by Israeli settlers, including burning homes and farms, besides destroying olive groves. Such attacks have escalated in recent weeks.

Human rights groups and international media investigations have documented widespread violations and abuse by settlers toward Palestinian communities.

Most United Nations member states consider settlements built in the West Bank and other territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war to be illegal under international law.

The situation in the occupied West Bank has been tense for months, as settlers have been emboldened under notoriously far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Ben-Gvir, himself a settler, has a known record of provocative acts against Palestinians and called for settlers to take up weapons.

Smotrich recently called for total Israeli “sovereignty” over the West Bank in 2025, comments which were condemned by most Muslim countries and some European governments.

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