Gaza Genocide04 August, 20262 min read
Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Homes Near As-Samu, Protected by Israeli Soldiers
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Settlers attacked Palestinian homes in the West Bank. Attacks occurred in Sinjil, Ramallah, and Nablus.
Settlers raid near Ramallah
Armed Israeli settlers, protected by Israeli soldiers, attacked Palestinian homes in Khirbet Al-Kharaba southeast of the town of As-Samu, south of Hebron, as Israeli bulldozers carried out land leveling and expansion works at the illegal settlement of Eli near Turmus Ayya and Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya. In the same period, local sources said settlers raided the town of Sinjil north of Ramallah under the protection of Israeli occupation forces and toured the outskirts, sparking tensions among local residents.
As-Samu Mayor Muhammad Abu Aqil said heavily armed settlers attacked the homes of the Daghameen family in Khirbet Al-Kharaba, grazed their livestock on privately owned Palestinian land, and vandalized property in the community. Osama Makhameh, an anti-settlement activist in southern Hebron, said Israeli forces raided Khallat Al-Homs south of Yatta and delivered a stop-work order to Khalil Azmi Bahis for his one-story house, which is 270 square meters and houses 14 people.
Christian Zionists and fear
Palestinian Christian leaders criticized American Christian Zionists for ignoring the experiences of Palestinian Christians in Israel, telling CNN that their interpretation of "biblical prophecy" does not align with reality. Father Munther Isaac, the director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice, told CNN, "Our experience has been when pastors and lay people come to Palestine, see the walls, see the settlements, meet with families struggling just to survive in their land - that’s when their eyes are opened."
Isaac said Christians are under attack daily in Jerusalem and warned that Christian Zionists are rendering Palestinian Christian experiences invisible, adding, "Theology has been weaponized." Father Bashar Fawadleh of Taybeh, the last fully Christian town in the West Bank whose population is steadily dwindling, told CNN that his congregants are afraid to harvest from their olive groves due to Israeli settler violence, and one parishoner said, "If I have the opportunity to leave, I would leave and not stay in this town, because there is no future for me or my children,".
War on Gaza backdrop
TRT World reported that illegal Israeli settlers attacked multiple West Bank villages and wounded two Palestinians on Sunday, while Israeli forces conducted separate raids in Ramallah and Nablus, according to Palestinian media. The official Voice of Palestine radio said the two Palestinians were assaulted by illegal Israeli settlers on the outskirts of Beit Ula, northwest of Hebron, and TRT World added that Israeli forces, accompanied by illegal settlers, raided the outskirts of the Al-Tira neighbourhood in Ramallah.
TRT World said Israeli military raids and illegal settlers attacks across the occupied West Bank have intensified since the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, involving killings, arrests, home demolitions and forced displacement. According to official Palestinian figures cited by TRT World, more than 1,182 Palestinians have been killed, around 13,000 wounded and nearly 24,000 arrested in the occupied West Bank during the same period.