ISTANBUL

Illegal Israeli settlers carried out coordinated attacks across 13 locations in the occupied West Bank over the past two days, injuring Palestinians and causing widespread property damage, according to Palestinian officials and witnesses.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that illegal settlers launched simultaneous assaults since late Saturday across several governorates, setting fire to homes and vehicles and throwing stones at Palestinian cars.

The most severe attack targeted the village of al-Funduq near Jenin, where illegal settlers burned homes and vehicles and smashed windows, while residents attempted to confront them and extinguish fires, Wafa said.

In the northern Jordan Valley, settlers attacked Palestinians in the Ein al-Hilweh community and sprayed them with pepper spray, according to the agency.

Illegal settlers also threw stones at Palestinian vehicles in the Jordan Valley area along multiple roads, including the Ramallah-Nablus Road, near the Za’atara checkpoint, along a bypass road near Burin, near Haris west of Salfit and in Tuqu near Bethlehem, with no injuries reported in these attacks.

Early Sunday, three Palestinians were wounded after settlers attacked the village of Jalud southeast of Nablus, setting fire to four vehicles and the village council building, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The organization said one of the injured suffered a deep head wound after being beaten during the attack.

In the town of Bruqin in Salfit, three more Palestinians were injured when illegal settlers threw stones at their vehicle, Wafa said.

Settlers also attacked the towns of Deir Sharaf and Deir al-Hatab near Nablus, burning vehicles and property, according to eyewitnesses and Palestinian sources.

Witnesses said illegal settlers arriving in several vehicles set fire to a bulldozer, a truck and parked cars in Deir Sharaf and attempted to attack homes but were unable to enter them.

In Deir al-Hatab, the Palestinian Red Crescent said 10 people were wounded, including one by live fire, six from beating, one from smoke inhalation and another from a head injury caused by a stone.

Wafa reported that settlers also set fire to homes and vehicles in the village during the attack.

In a separate attack early Monday, Israeli settlers raided a secondary school in the town of Hawara south of Nablus, removed the Palestinian flag, raised the Israeli flag and spray-painted racist slogans in Hebrew on the walls, according to local sources.

The Palestinian Ministry of Education said the incident constituted a violation of the sanctity of educational institutions and an attack on a safe learning environment, the ministry said.

In February, illegal settlers carried out 511 attacks across the West Bank, killing seven Palestinians by gunfire, according to official Palestinian figures.

Since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 8, 2023, attacks by Israeli forces and illegal settlers in the West Bank have killed 1,133 Palestinians, injured about 11,700 others and led to the arrest of roughly 22,000 people.

In a landmark opinion in July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.