West Bank Settlers Attack Vehicles, Uproot Olive Trees

Settlers carried out attacks across the occupied West Bank on Sunday, targeting Palestinian residents and their property. In the Hebron governorate, settlers set fire to several vehicles in the Safa area of Beit Ummar. Near Bethlehem, settlers hurled stones at Palestinian vehicles close to the Efrat settlement, damaging one car and injuring its driver.

In the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate, settlers raided a farming structure on the outskirts of Burqa village, tampering with its contents. The head of Burqa village council, Sayel Canaan, confirmed the raid but reported no injuries. Earlier in Ramallah, settlers uprooted and damaged dozens of olive trees in the town of Ni'lin. Local sources also reported that settlers had bulldozed land and created agricultural roads in the area four days prior.

Meanwhile, in the Jenin governorate, settlers established a new outpost on Jabal Harish, east of Jaba village. The mayor of Jaba, Mohammed al-Baddad, stated that this outpost is located in an area classified as "Area A" and surrounds over 8,000 dunams of agricultural land. He warned that the continued presence of the outpost and attacks on farmers could lead to further land seizure and restrictions on Palestinian access and use of their land.

These incidents occur amid a broader escalation of settler violence against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, coinciding with Israeli military operations. In June, fourteen UN special rapporteurs warned that escalating settler violence, with alleged Israeli state support, poses an existential threat to Palestinian communities.