Israeli Jewish settlers rampaged through several Palestinian towns in the West Bank on 19 January in a show of anger at a ceasefire deal that saw the end of fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli captives.
Settlers across the West Bank organized themselves in an effort to disrupt the release of Palestinians held captive in Israeli prisons and detention centers, where torture and rape are common.
Accompanied by soldiers, the settlers attacked Palestinian cars and closed several main roads in Turmus Ayy, Atara, Ein Siniya, Ein Ayoub, Qalqilya, and Jaba on Sunday evening.
In Sinjil, two houses were torched along with four vehicles, WAFA news agency reported.
Footage released on social media shows Israeli settlers hurling stones and Molotov cocktails in their raids.
Members of Israel’s settler movement and its leaders, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have rejected the ceasefire deal, insisting instead that the war on Gaza that has killed over 46,000 Palestinians – the majority women and children – should continue.
Prior to the agreement, Israeli Minister of Military Affairs Israel Katz released all 16 settlers who were under administration detention due to their involvement in attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
The release of the settlers was meant “to convey a clear message of strengthening and encouraging the settlements,” he said.
Also on Sunday evening, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that Israeli soldiers shot and killed 14-year-old Ahmad Rashid Rushdi Jazar in the town of Sebastia near Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.
An Israeli reservist soldier was killed and two others wounded, including a senior officer, when they were hit by a roadside bomb in the West Bank overnight, the military announced on Monday morning.
The soldiers were in a light armored vehicle patrolling the town of Tamun in the northern West Bank when the bomb detonated.