Some settlers heavily armed as they set fire to houses and cars in the West Bank town of Turmus Aya
Hagar Shezaf for Haaretz
Dozens of Jewish settlers, some heavily armed, set fire to houses and vehicles in the Palestinian West Bank town of Turmus Aya on Wednesday, Israeli security sources said.
There were no reported casualties, but damaged property was reported.
At the same time, following Tuesday’s deadly shooting attack that killed four Jews near the West Bank settlement of Eli, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minster Yoav Gallant and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich agreed to fast-track the construction of a thousand housing units in the same settlement.
Hours after Tuesday’s attack, several Palestinian cities and villages and began to block traffic, throw rocks and vandalize property.
According to an Israeli defense official, roughly 20 settlers set cars on fire in the Palestinian village of Hawara — the site of a rampage carried out by settlers earlier this year. IDF soldiers were brought to the area, and there are reports of settlers attacking them, forcing the soldiers to fire warning shots in the air.
In the Tapuach Junction, 40 settlers threw rocks at Palestinian cars, while a group of roughly 15 settlers blocked the entrance to Nablus. An Israeli truck driver also reported that he was attacked while passing through Hawara.
Also Tuesday, dozens of Israeli settlers, including Religious Zionism lawmaker Zvi Sukkot, entered the West Bank outpost of Evyatar, which is considered a closed military zone by the Israeli military.
The Israeli army did not prevent the settlers from entering, nor did the settlers request official authorization to enter the hilltop outpost, meaning that their presence violated Israeli law.