Over 100 Israeli settlers attack Palestinian town in the West Bank and kill one

WEST BANK

A man stands next to burned-out cars and points to the damage to his house, a day after Jewish settlers attacked the village of Jit near Nablus in the occupied West Bank on August 16, 2024, which left a 23-year-old man dead and others suffering serious gunshot wounds.

Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Jit in the northern West Bank on Thursday, killing one Palestinian and setting fire to several houses and vehicles.

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The Israeli army radio station reported, citing an Israeli security source, that more than 100 settlers had stormed the city.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry and Israeli Army Radio, at least one other Palestinian was seriously injured in the attack. In addition, four houses and six vehicles were destroyed during the settlers' invasion of Jit. Eyewitnesses told Anadolu news agency that Israeli forces protected the settlers during the attack.

Hamas condemned the actions as criminal and a sign of Israel's ongoing policy to undermine the Palestinian presence in the West Bank.

In a statement, the Palestinian resistance group called for an uprising and confrontation with the settler gangs.

“We mourn the loss of the heroic martyr Rashid Mahmoud Sada, who was killed by settler militias in the village of Jit, and we reiterate that this pure blood will not be shed in vain and will be a curse for the occupation,” it said.

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The White House condemned the incident and said that attacks by “violent settlers” on Palestinian civilians “are unacceptable and must stop.” A National Security Council spokesman told Anadolu on condition of anonymity that “Israeli authorities must take measures to protect all communities from harm” and that they should hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.

In recent years, the Israeli military has carried out regular raids in the West Bank, which began with the start of the war against Gaza on October 7, 2023.

According to the Health Ministry, at least 632 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territories since then.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and called for the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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