Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian vehicle in Huwwara

A group of Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian vehicle near the village of Huwwara south of Nablus in the early hours of this morning, marking the latest incident in a string of violent settler attacks on Palestinians and their property in the area.

An official who monitors settlement activity in the northern occupied West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told Ma’an that surveillance cameras showed several Israeli settlers setting fire to a vehicle parked near a car wash in the village. The vehicle belonged to Mustafa Al-Damidi, he said.

The Palestinian town of Huwwara is located only a few hundred metres away from the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar, home to some of the occupied West Bank’s most notorious and aggressive Israeli settlers.

Right-wing extremist settlers often carry out attacks on Palestinians and their property, known as “price tag attacks”, as revenge for attacks committed by Palestinians on Israeli forces.

Hours before the arson attack, Israeli forces shot 17-year-old Amjad Maher Jaafar multiple times in the stomach.

Read: 2 Palestinian children killed by Israeli shell in Negev

Over the weekend, settlers from Yitzhar committed two separate attacks on Palestinians in a single day.

Daghlas said at the time that some 100 “extremist settlers” from Yitzhar stormed the village of Urif that neighbours Huwwara, smashing windows and attempting to break into Palestinian homes.

Israeli soldiers arrived on the scene to protect the settlers and violently dispersed the group of Palestinians who gathered to defend their homes. Four Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets, including one who was shot in the head.

Later that afternoon, another mob of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes in Huwwara with stones and sharp objects. Two Palestinians were hospitalised, including a 72-year-old woman.