Israeli settlers torch cars on Ramallah outskirts, residents say

Jewish settlers torched 20 cars during an attack on Palestinian property on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah today, residents said, according to Reuters.

Around a dozen attackers, masked and carrying petrol bombs, targeted Al-Bireh area, which adjoins Ramallah, at around 3am (01:00 GMT), torching the cars in a matter of minutes, they said.

Resident Ihab Al-Zaben said he yelled at the settlers but they carried on burning the vehicles regardless.

“When we came down to try to extinguish the fire, they started shooting at us,” he said.

The facade of a residential building was left blackened by fires set in cars that had been parked outside.

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Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency said they had launched an investigation, however most probes into attacks on Palestinians end with no Israelis arrested or reprimanded.

The Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah, condemned “the brutal attack by settler militias”. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for “comprehensive sanctions targeting the entire settler-colonial system”.

Hamas official Abdul Rahman Shadid said the attack represented an escalation by settlers and required “escalating the confrontation and confronting these crimes”, a statement by the Palestinian group said.

Settler violence had been on the rise prior to the eruption of the Gaza war, and has worsened since Israel launched its genocidal bombing campaign in the enclave over a year ago.

In an interview with Reuters last week, a leader of the settler community expressed confidence that Donald Trump, if he wins the US presidential election, will lift what the settlers see as the illegitimate sanctions imposed over attacks on Palestinians.

All settlements and settler outposts are illegal under international law.

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