Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian warehouse as West Bank attacks surge

Several Israeli settlers in the West Bank’s Bedouin village triggered an arson attack against Palestinians, setting a warehouse and a farmland in the area on fire, injuring many people.

The incidents were the latest in a surge of settler violence that has coincided with the olive harvest season, when Palestinians return to their fields surrounding towns and villages.

The reports of violence inflicted by Israeli settlers come as the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said that October 2025 was the worst month for settler violence since it began recording in 2006, with 264 attacks that caused casualties or property damage.

The West Bank and East Jerusalem are home to 700,000 Jews with 160 settlements. Israel took over the area during the 1967 Middle East War. About 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside the Israeli settlers.

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The settlements are deemed illegal under international law.

Violence has surged across the West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.

At least 1,003 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

During the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, according to official Israeli figures.

Israel’s military chief on Wednesday pledged to halt settler violence in the West Bank. On Tuesday, Israel’s police and military said security forces had arrested several Israeli settlers after clashes near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, during which Palestinians were injured and property destroyed.

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The military said it dispatched troops after “masked Israeli civilians… attacked Palestinians and set fire to property in the area,” adding that four injured Palestinians were evacuated for medical treatment.

“We are aware of the recent violent incidents in which Israeli civilians attacked Palestinians and Israelis. I strongly condemn them,” army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said, in a statement issued by the military.

With inputs from agencies