RAMALLAH, Palestine

At least eight Palestinians were injured late Thursday when Illegal Israeli settlers set fire to several homes after storming the outskirts of the town of Bruqin in the northern West Bank.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its teams treated eight people for burn injuries.

The group of settlers caused extensive property damage and sparked large fires across the area, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Footage circulated online showed flames erupting in multiple locations in Bruqin.

The incident occurred after Israeli forces re-entered the town Thursday evening, just hours after withdrawing. Wafa reported that the army stormed the town with a large number of military vehicles, closed internal roads, raided several homes and began conducting searches.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli army withdrew from Bruqin and the nearby town of Kafr al-Dik after a nine-day military offensive. The campaign included the killing of a Palestinian youth, a wave of arrests and the conversion of homes into military outposts.

Since the start of the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, nearly 970 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.​​​​​​​

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.