When Moawya Ali saw a wave of Israeli settlers storm towards his house in the West Bank town of Jit, he grabbed his five children and rushed to his car, where he dropped them off at a nearby house for safety. <\/p>\n
When he returned to the house, Ali said, he saw some 30 settlers \u2013 armed, masked and dressed in black \u2013 jumping over the fence, breaking windows and throwing Molotov cocktails inside the house. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are (Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir) Ben Gvir\u2019s gang, we are here to kill you, here to kill Arabs,\u201d the settlers shouted in both Arabic and Hebrew, according to Ali. <\/p>\n
Ali\u2019s home is one of several houses and cars damaged by what residents of Jit say was an assault by dozens of settlers on Thursday night, which drew scathing condemnation from top Israeli officials. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey were prepared with weapons,\u201d Arman said, adding that they had silencer firearms with live ammunition, knives and M16 rifles. \u201cThey came to commit a crime in the town,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The attack has been condemned by top officials across Israel\u2019s government, with a statement issued hours later by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office warning that \u201cthose responsible for any offense will be apprehended and tried.\u201d <\/p>\n
One resident, Rashid Sedda, was killed in Thursday\u2019s attack. According to the Palestinian Authority\u2019s ministry of health, the 23-year-old died after an \u201cinjury to the chest by settlers\u2019 bullets.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hundreds gathered for his burial on Friday, where residents marched down the narrow streets of the town carrying Sedda\u2019s body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag. <\/p>\n
Mourners blamed far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Ben Gvir for the attack, saying they have been instigating settler violence, and especially after October 7. <\/p>\n
\u201cNetanyahu is but a toy in their hands,\u201d said the preacher speaking at Sedda\u2019s burial. <\/p>\n
In May, Smotrich said that Israel should approve 10,000 settlements in the West Bank, establish a new settlement for every country that recognizes a state of Palestine, and cancel travel permits for Palestinian Authority officials. In June, the minister said the way to prevent a Palestinian state that would endanger the state of Israel is to develop Jewish settlements. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu has long struggled to appease the far-right side of his coalition, and is currently under pressure to delay a ceasefire deal and press on with the war in Gaza, which today shows few signs of ending. <\/p>\n
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has recorded at least 1,143 settler attacks against Palestinians from October 7 to August 5 alone. Of those, at least 114 attacks \u201cled to Palestinian fatalities and injuries,\u201d according to OCHA. <\/p>\n
After Thursday\u2019s attack, some settler leaders were keen to distance themselves from the attackers. Smotrich, who lives in the Kedumim settlement just 10 minutes away, called attackers \u201ccriminals\u201d who \u201care in no way related to the settlements and the settlers.\u201d <\/p>\n
In a statement, Ben Gvir suggested that the riot would not have happened if the Israeli military were allowed to shoot stone-throwers in the West Bank. Ben Gvir said he \u201ctold the [IDF] Chief of the General Staff this evening that the fact that we don\u2019t let soldiers shoot any terrorist who throws stones is leading to events of the type that occurred tonight.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, it is unequivocally forbidden to take the law into one\u2019s own hands,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have also condemned the attack, saying in a statement that Israeli security forces were dispatched to Jit \u201cminutes after receiving the report of this incident\u201d and \u201cused riot dispersal means, fired shots into the air, and removed the Israeli civilians from the town.\u201d <\/p>\n
An Israeli civilian involved in the riot has been apprehended for questioning, and a joint investigation by Israeli security forces is looking into the death of the Palestinian resident, it also said. <\/p>\n
Statements by Israeli officials did little to cool residents\u2019 anger, however. <\/p>\n
Murad Eshtewi, spokesman for Fatah in the Qalqilya Province, where the town of Jit is located, said that attacks by settlers are always given a greenlight by settler leaders. Fatah is the leading party in the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the West Bank. <\/p>\n
While the prime minister is enjoying the support of his far-right ministers, Eshtewi said, blood is being spilled in Gaza and the West Bank. <\/p>\n
Residents of Jit said that attacks by settlers have been rampant since Netanyahu\u2019s new government and more so after October 7, but that Thursday\u2019s attack was unprecedented. <\/p>\n
They fear it may not be the last. <\/p>\n
Yamin said that it is up to the international community to stop the violence, as the Palestinian people have no means of confronting these attacks. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe world sees and hears what happens, and does nothing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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