Settlers from West Bank outpost attack human rights activists

Settlers from a West Bank outpost that Israel does not sanction attacked human rights activists assisting Palestinian farmers in planting trees, amid an intensification of such attacks.

The settlers were armed with batons, rocks. and incendiary materials in the attack Friday and set afire a car belonging to the human rights activists, according to Haaretz, which reported that  four human rights activists were lightly injured.

The attack took place in Burin, south of Nablus at an event organised by Rabbis for Human Rights and the Olive Harvest Coalition. The activists said about 15 assailants came from Givat Ronen, an illegal outpost, and fled by the time Israeli army troops arrived.

Settler attacks in the West Bank spiked 50  percent in 2021, according to a recent report. The Biden administration has signalled that it is monitoring the phenomenon and last month the U.S. State Department’s annual terrorism report included extensive reporting on settler violence.

Haaretz quoted the settler leadership umbrella body, the Yesha Council, as decrying the attack, which it said in a statement “contradicts the values of the people of Israel and harms settlement efforts.”