Israeli settlers invade and set fire to land in West Bank

Israeli settlers launched attacks across multiple villages in the West Bank on Saturday, firing weapons and setting Palestinian property ablaze, according to local news agency Wafa and eyewitnesses.

Early Saturday, activists monitoring settler attacks reported that settlers shot a young Palestinian man, identified as Muhammad Maher Shajami, in the village of Duma in the northern West Bank. Shajami, who has an intellectual disability, sustained injuries to his abdomen and leg. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that Israeli soldiers initially prevented their medics from reaching the injured man.

In the village of Jit, near Qalqilia, a group of over 15 settlers reportedly set fire to agricultural land and destroyed four vehicles. Security camera footage shared by activists showed the settlers throwing Molotov cocktails at several homes, causing further material damage. Wafa reported that two of the burned vehicles belonged to Palestinians not residing in Jit.

Further south, near Bethlehem, settlers stole water pipes supplying the Jalail al-Lawz neighborhood, an area frequently targeted for its agricultural systems. In other incidents, settlers blocked a main road in Araba and engaged in confrontations with locals in Ein Arik after invading the village. These attacks contribute to a grim statistic: at least 13 Palestinians have been killed by settlers so far this year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

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The Red Crescent teams received a 29-year-old man with injuries to the abdomen and leg. He is being transported to the hospital.