Palestinians said Thursday morning that one person was left dead after settler extremists allegedly rampaged through a West Bank town near Ramallah overnight, setting fire to cars and homes.
According to the official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA, Khamis Abdul Latif Ayyad suffocated while trying to put out flames after a home in Silwad was set on fire.
The agency had earlier reported that Ayyad was shot by troops, but the claim was later removed from its account.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said the army was looking into the matter.
Footage from the town showed several homes and cars on fire. On one wall, Hebrew graffiti reading “Revenge [for] the shooting of Zio-Nazis” is seen alongside a Star of David.
Attacks were also reported to have taken place in the nearby villages of Rammun and Khirbet Abu Falah.
Activists say attacks by settlers against Palestinians in the area have intensified in recent months, with Israeli troops often reluctant to intervene.
The overnight incident was the fourth such attack and the second alleged Palestinian fatality in clashes with settlers in a week.
On Friday night, settler extremists set fire to several homes in the West Bank Palestinian village of Kisan, according to Palestinian media and the Israel Defense Forces.
Then, overnight Sunday, settlers attacked the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh in the West Bank, torching cars and spray-painting threatening graffiti, according to Palestinian media.
On Monday, a settler under Western sanctions allegedly shot dead a Palestinian activist during a confrontation near the West Bank village of Umm al Kheir.
Violence in the West Bank has spiked since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.
Settler attacks on Palestinians throughout the West Bank have been taking place on a near-daily basis, largely with impunity, in what has sparked mounting sanctions from Western governments.
The head of the Israel Police’s West Bank division is currently under investigation for ignoring settler violence to curry favor in the eyes of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. He was allowed to return to his post, despite the ongoing investigation.