Headline should read Israeli terrorists but whatever.
West Bank settlers attack Palestinian villages, angry about prisoner releases.
As three hostages were reunited with their families in Israel after 15 months of captivity in Gaza, settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank attacked at least three Palestinian villages, according to residents and the Israeli military.
Palestinian residents of the villages said that the attackers were masked and burned homes and vehicles, accounts that were backed up by video footage on social media verified by The New York Times. The Israeli military said in statements that the villages had been subject to βviolent riotsβ and βviolent confrontationβ but did not mention arson attacks.
The military said that it had detained two suspects and handed them over to the Israeli police. The police did not respond to a request to confirm the episodes or the detentions.
Honenu, a legal organization that has represented settlers, on Monday issued a statement on behalf of one of its lawyers, Daniel Shimshilashvili, saying that two people accused by the police of setting fire to the homes of Palestinians in the West Bank had been released after a court hearing. It did not name the two.
The violence against Palestinians in the West Bank comes as many far-right Israelis have been protesting the cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel, hoping to disrupt implementation of the deal.
On Sunday, WhatsApp groups administered by Israeli settler groups were full of angry comments about the release of Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank and calls to block their entry with organized protests. Many users said that the released prisoners, some convicted of mass-casualty attacks on Israelis, posed a threat to citizens of Israel.
In Sinjil, a village south of Nablus, dozens of men, some carrying slingshots, rampaged through the village throwing stones and setting houses on fire, according to residents and videos verified by the Times. One clip showed vehicles burning in the village.
βPeople screamed as their homes were burning,β said Ayed Jafry, 45, a resident of Sinjil. He said that several people were injured, including an 86-year-old man.
On Sunday morning, a WhatsApp group for settlers posted a video of an Israeli man outside a shop with shattered glass, in Funduq, a Palestinian town.
βThe next stage is destroying it,β he declared.
In a video taken from a CCTV camera in Turmus Aya, at least 20 masked men can be seen throwing stones and entering the village, as Israeli police cars appear in the distance. Villagers said the officers stayed clear of the violence and did not try to stop it.
Lafi Adeeb, the mayor of Turmus Aya, said that the police didnβt enter the village but that the military eventually dispersed the riot using tear gas. βI was shocked,β he said, because βthis is the first time the army stopped the settlers here.β
Palestinian villagers in Turmus Aya and Sinjil, some of whom are U.S. citizens, alerted the American embassy in Israel about the attacks, and a senior U.S. diplomat called the office of Defense Minister Israel Katz to inform him, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic information.