Eight Palestinians were reportedly wounded after dozens of settlers attacked the village of Bruqin in the northern West Bank on Thursday night, a week after a terrorist from the village killed Israeli Tzeela Gez, as she headed to the hospital to give birth.
Palestinian media reported that five homes and five vehicles were set ablaze during the rampage.
Footage showed several vehicles completely burned and homes partially set on fire.
Security sources quoted by Hebrew outlets said some 40 settlers took part in the attack; the sources denied Palestinian reports that they also burned homes.
There were no immediate reports of arrests, which rarely occur after settler violence.
The Haaretz daily cited the Israel Defense Forces as saying that the suspects “already escaped” by the time Israeli troops arrived, and that “the incident is under investigation.”
The IDF did not immediately respond to The Times of Israel’s request for comment. There was also no comment from the Israel Police.
The settler attack appeared to be carried out in retaliation for the deadly shooting of Gez earlier this month.
In the attack on May 14, near Bruqin and the settlement of Bruchin, a Palestinian terrorist opened fire from the side of a road, killing Gez, who was heading to the hospital to give birth, and wounding her husband.
Last Friday, two days after Gez’s murder, settlers also attacked a home in the village of Deir Istiya, breaking windows and trying to set the house alight, according to the head of the local council, cited by Haaretz.
Settler violence has spiked since the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught in the south, which saw Hamas-led terrorists invade Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.
Israeli authorities rarely arrest Jewish perpetrators in such attacks. Rights groups lament that convictions are even more unusual and that the vast majority of charges in these types of attacks are dropped.
Law enforcement and military responses to settler violence have faced mounting scrutiny amid concerns that members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline right-wing cabinet are unwilling to tackle extremist attacks on Palestinians. Police officials have pushed back against the criticism.
Since October 7, 2023, 52 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 950 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.
Meanwhile, the IDF on Friday said troops had mapped two homes in Bruqin belonging to a pair of Palestinians suspected of aiding the terrorist who killed Gez.
A statement from the military identified the two suspects as Maher Samarah and Jabil Samarah, adding that soldiers mapped the homes overnight ahead of their potential demolition.
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday confirmed it killed Naael Samarah, who carried out the deadly attack.
As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks.
Jerusalem defends the practice of razing the family home of attackers as a deterrent against future assaults. Over the years, a number of Israeli defense officials have questioned the efficacy of the practice, and human rights activists have denounced it as unfair collective punishment.