Israeli settlers set fire at military base in the West Bank amid growing number of attacks

On Wednesday, three Palestinians were killed when Jewish settlers stormed the West Bank village of Karf Malik.

Dozens of Israeli settlers set fires, vandalised military vehicles, sprayed graffiti and attacked soldiers at a military base just north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Sunday night, the military confirmed. Footage on Israeli media revealed the attackers consisted of a group of young, religious men, typically associated with "Hilltop Youth," an extremist movement of Israeli settlers that occupy West Bank hilltops and have been accused of attacking Palestinians and their property.In a response to the violence, the military had used stun grenades at dozens of the settlers. The military released photos showing infrastructure that had been burnt in the attack, which it said included "systems that help thwart terrorist attacks and maintain security."On Monday, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to "eradicate this violence from the root." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Sunday's attack, saying "no civilised country can tolerate violent and anarchic acts of burning a military facility, damaging IDF property and attacking security personnel by citizens of the country."Far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also offered a condemnation, a rare move as he has often defended Israelis accused of similar crimes. "Attacking security forces, security facilities, and IDF soldiers who are our brothers, our protectors, is a red line, and must be dealt with in full severity. We are brothers," he wrote in a post on X.Ben-Gvir was previously convicted of racist incitement and support for terrorist groups, and has called for the deportation of Arab citizens from Israel. He was once widely shunned by Israel's politicians, but his influence, including among extremist settlers in the West Bank, has since grown along the country's shift to the right. Speaking on Israel's Army radio, opposition leader Yair Lapid labeled the aggressors of the attack as "Jewish terrorists, gangs of criminals, who feel backed by the (governing) coalition."It comes after a series of attacks in the West Bank by Israeli settlers over the past few days. On Wednesday, more than a hundred settlers entered the town of Kfar Malik, set fire to properties and shot at Palestinians who tried to stop them, the head of the local council, Najeb Rostom, said. Three Palestinians were killed after the military intervened, and five settlers were arrested. In response to Wednesday's violence, the deputy to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hussein al-Sheikh, wrote on X that "the settler violence and rampage, under the protection of the occupation army, is a political decision by the Israeli government, implemented by the settlers.""The Israeli government's behaviour and decisions are pushing the region toward an explosion," he added. Israel seized control of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem at the end of the Six-Day War in 1967, a conflict between Israel and a coalition of Arab states. The West Bank is home to some 3 million Palestinians, who live under Israeli military rule, and 500,000 Jewish settlers. The international community overwhelmingly considers West Bank settlements illegal.