At least a hundred people attacked Kafr Malik, then soldiers opened fire on civilians, killing and wounding several. A 15-year-old boy was also killed in Al-Yamoun. “We live under constant fire from settlers, and under the crossfire of the Israeli occupation army,” said Fr Bashar Fawadleh, “but we are not afraid to remain in our land.”

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – More Palestinians have died in the West Bank, killed by Israeli troops after they were attacked by Jewish settlers. Taking advantage of the war in Gaza first, then Iran, settlers are attacking Palestinians with impunity shielded by the Israeli military and the government.

Palestinian Authority sources report that "at least three people" died, shot by Israeli soldiers, and seven others were injured yesterday afternoon during an attack against Kafr Malik, a village near Ramallah.

In another incident today, a 15-year-old boy was killed by Israeli soldiers in Al-Yamoun, northern West Bank, amid a wave of violence and almost daily clashes between settlers and Palestinians in the village of Taybeh (pictured).

“We live under constant fire from settlers, and under the crossfire of the Israeli occupation army,” said Fr Bashar Fawadleh, speaking to AsiaNews.

The clergyman serves as a parish priest in Taybeh, West Bank, a village of about 1,500 people with three churches, located some 30 km north of Jerusalem and east of Ramallah, known as the last Palestinian village inhabited entirely by Christians. More than 600 residents are Latin Catholics, while the rest are Greek Orthodox or Greek Melkite Catholics.

“Yesterday evening, settlers attacked homes in the Karamelo roundabout, an area at the eastern entrance to the village,” said the priest. The incident “coincided with an attack by dozens of settlers on the village of Kafr Malik, which is near us, and which led to the death of three martyrs and the burning of many vehicles and homes.”

The escalation of violence “began before 7 October (2023 when Hamas attacked Israel sparking the war in Gaza) and has continued for all this time,” Fr Bashar explained.

“We are living in very difficult conditions, but we are not afraid to remain in our land. We are not afraid of those who kill,” added the clergyman. “We are a people who love our land and will never abandon it.”

More than a hundred settlers are said to have taken part in the attack in Kafr Malik, according to an Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, which claims that the incident occurred with Israeli soldiers standing idly by.

Images and videos posted on social media show several homes and cars set on fire by the settlers, who also threw stones at the villagers and their properties. Other footage confirms eyewitnesses’ accounts, with the soldiers opening fire on unarmed Palestinians at the entrance to the village.

In a statement, the IDF said that the troops who intervened shot at “the source of the fire and stone throwers,” this despite the lack of documented evidence of any residents in the area carrying weapons.

The soldiers reportedly intervened to separate settlers from Palestinians and “stop” the stone-throwing. One officer reportedly suffered minor injuries after being hit by a stone.

Shortly thereafter, the IDF said that Palestinians fired “from inside the village and others threw stones at the troops,” while the soldiers returned fire.

Meanwhile, at least five Jewish settlers suspected of participating in the attack on the village have been arrested and handed over to the police for further questioning.

“Under the auspices of government and military backing, settler violence in the West Bank continues and becomes more deadly by the day. This is what ethnic cleansing looks like,” reports Yesh Din, an Israeli NGO that operates in Israel and the West Bank.

Hussein al-Sheikh, Palestinian Authority first vice president, also condemned the Israeli government that, with its behavior and its decisions, is "pushing the region to explode.” In a message published on X, the Palestinian leader calls “on the international community to intervene urgently to protect our Palestinian people.”

Settlers have been attacking Palestinians for decades but now the violence has become a daily occurrence. As a result, Western governments imposed sanctions. The arrival of Donald Trump to the White House saw the US drops its sanctions against the settlers.

The head of the Israeli police division in the West Bank is currently under investigation for ignoring settler violence to please the pro-occupation Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. Despite the investigation, he was reinstated this month after a six-month suspension.

The attacks are the work of religious extremists who consider the West Bank part of the promised land of Israel, to be occupied and “purified” by all means, including blood and guns.

• israel
• palestine
• west bank
• settlers
• violence
• taybeh
• kafr malik
• fr bashar fawadleh