RAMALLAH, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh condemned on Monday the escalation of settler attacks in the West Bank, considering them a tool through which the Israeli government implements plans for annexation and ethnic cleansing.
Fattouh said in a press statement that following settlers' attack on towns in the cities of Hebron and Nablus, the "escalating terrorist attacks carried out by armed settlers against the Palestinian people and their towns represent an extension of a systematic criminal policy led by the Israeli government to impose facts by force."
He stressed that "settler terrorism is no longer sporadic attacks, but has turned into an official tool through which the occupation government implements plans of annexation, colonial expansion, and ethnic cleansing in flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law."
Fattouh called on the international community to take immediate action to stop "the crimes of the colonialists, hold those responsible for them accountable, and impose deterrent sanctions on the colonial settlement system, which constitutes a direct threat to peace and stability and undermines the chances of achieving justice and peace in the region."
Earlier Monday, settlers attacked Palestinian homes in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, and threw stones at them. They also wrote racist slogans on a mosque, according to Palestinian security sources.
The sources told Xinhua that settlers, protected by Israeli forces, attacked Palestinian homes in the Safa area, north of Beit Ummar, by throwing stones at them, and wrote "racist, anti-Arab" slogans on the wall of the Safa Mosque in the area.
In Nablus, local sources and eyewitnesses reported that settlers attacked Palestinian homes at dawn on Monday, burned agricultural lands, and caused damage to them in the Al-Masoudiyah area, northwest of the city.
On Sunday, settlers burned three vehicles in the village of Barqa and the town of Deir Dibwan, east of the city of Ramallah, according to Mansour Mansour, head of the Deir Dibwan Village Council.
Mansour said that dozens of settlers attacked a mosque while worshipers were there and burned two vehicles in its courtyards, before attacking some homes in the town.
In nearby Burqa, settlers burned parts of the Al-Nour Mosque in the village and a vehicle.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on these developments.
The West Bank has witnessed an escalation in attacks by settlers and the Israeli army on property and agricultural lands since October 7, 2023.
Settler attacks caused widespread damage to Palestinian property, livelihoods and essential infrastructure, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report on June 12.
Since January, more than 1,000 settler attacks caused casualties or property damage across more than 230 communities, with over 2,200 Palestinians displaced in this context, the report said. ■
