The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR): Surge in State-Backed Settler Violence: PCHR Condemns Settler Attack on Two Villages and Burning of 19 Vehicles in Ramallah
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns Israeli armed settlers’ attack on two towns in Ramallah, central West Bank, and burning 19 vehicles. This incident follows a month during which settlers carried out more than 180 attacks, primarily against olive harvesters, in an alarming escalation of state-backed violence across the West Bank.
These crimes are part of a broader systematic violence by settlers under the protection of IOF. This violence persists amid an atmosphere of impunity and protection settlers receive within Israel, perpetuating a broader policy of demographic change and entrenching Israel’s sovereignty and grip on the West Bank, as well as furthering the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
According to eyewitnesses and information provided to PCHR’s team, at around 03:15 on Monday, 04 November 2024, a group of settlers from Giv’at Asaf settlement, located on lands in Ramallah and Al-Bireh, attacked a residential neighborhood in the industrial area, east of Al-Bireh, north of Ramallah, setting fire to 18 legal Palestinian vehicles parked in the neighborhoods’ parking lots. This caused significant damage to the buildings’ walls and windows.
Eyewitnesses and surveillance cameras in the area indicate that the settlers used flammable substances by pouring them on the Palestinian vehicles before setting them ablaze, while residents were asleep in their homes. People were awakened in terror by the thick smoke and the smell of fire that penetrated their windows.
Fathi Issa Mohamed Abu Zaina reported to PCHR’s field researcher:
“I live in an apartment in the Al-Shifa building, east of the industrial area in Al-Bireh. I live here with my wife and three children: Issa (8), Kinda (6), and my a-year-and-a-half Karmel. Around 03:15 on Monday, while we were asleep, my son ‘Issa ran into my room and said, ‘Dad, there’s a car burning in the parking lot’’ I woke up quickly and went to the window, where I saw two cars on fire: one, a red vehicle belonging to the Jordanian medical mission, and the other, a Jeep Grand Cherokee belonging to lawyer Mohamed Amr. I hurried downstairs towards the parking lot, and upon exiting the main door, I saw someone retreating towards the main street. He seemed like a settler, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, which I believe was gray, though I could not verify him due to the darkness, flames, and the state of fear and confusion. I saw him join a group of about four settlers, who ran towards another street near an area known as Al-Shaab. We started extinguishing the flames using water and fire extinguishers available in the building and called civil defense, which arrived after about half an hour. I noticed that the settlers had applied a clear, sticky substance on the burned cars, which seemed highly flammable, causing the flames to intensify. Smoke entered my home, and I had to rinse it several times to reduce its effects. This attack enticed panic among my children; Issa, Kinda, and Karmel were crying out of fear. This is the fourth time settlers have attacked our neighborhood. Previously, the attacks were less severe, limited to racist graffiti and slashing tires. But this time, the attack was severe, with 18 cars burned, making me seriously consider leaving this place. I fear that this event would occur again, endangering our lives or those of our children.”
Ihab Zuhair Salem Al-Zabin reported to PCHR’s field researcher:
“I am married with four children, and I live in Al-Noor building in the Quraish neighborhood, east of Al-Bireh, on the first floor above the basement level. The building has 12 apartments, housing around 60 people, including children. I own a 2014 Hyundai Accent, which I usually park beside the building. Around 03:15 on Monday, I was awake in my apartment overlooking the street when I heard unusual noises outside. I looked out the window and saw eight to ten masked individuals pouring a substance on the neighborhood residents’ cars parked on the street, then setting them on fire. Realizing they were settlers, I immediately went to the building’s entrance, where we had a fire extinguisher, grabbed it, and started calling on the building’s residents to wake up and help. When I reached the entrance and looked outside, I saw the settlers heading towards the end of the paved neighborhood street and onto a dirt road leading eastwards to the Al-Bireh hills, where a settlement outpost known as Giv’at Asaf is located. As I mentioned, there were eight or ten of them, and I could see them clearly heading east on the dirt road. The building residents and I tried to extinguish the flames by consuming the cars with the fire extinguisher and water. We also called Palestinian civil defense for help, but they arrived about 40 minutes later. Extinguishing the fire took us nearly an hour due to the large number of burning cars, with about 18 cars damaged, most parked on the neighborhood street and some on a nearby street. Since the burning cars were parked beside our building, the flames and smoke extended to the building’s facade, damaging the windows and bricks, but fortunately, the flames did not reach the apartments, as we managed to control and extinguish the fire before it spread inside.”
According to field information obtained by PCHR’s team on the second attack, at 03:20 on the same Monday, another group of settlers from outposts established on the lands of Dayr Dibwan village attacked the village east of Ramallah, setting fire to a 2020 Hyundai Kona vehicle owned by Nazih Dawoud Ibrahim Abdul Hadi (49). The fire completely destroyed the vehicle, causing significant financial loss. As the flames engulfed the vehicle, the villagers rushed to confront the settlers, forcing them to retreat and quickly withdraw, fleeing back to their settlement outposts.
During October, settlers carried out 180 attacks on Palestinian villages and towns in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, the most violent of which targeted residents harvesting olives in the West Bank governorates, injuring many. Settlers also looted olives and harvesting equipment. These attacks resulted in six civilians being shot, and assaults on 66 others, including three children and seven women, using various means like clubs, sharp objects, and stones. Additionally, three homes and five private vehicles were burned, 16 vehicle windows smashed, 14 homes attacked, and a mosque’s equipment stolen in Khirbet Tana, east of Nablus. They also stole agricultural equipment and 217 sheep in Kafr Ni’ma, Ramallah, and ‘Aqraba, southeast of Nablus. Settlers uprooted 545 olive trees across the West Bank and burned dozens of dunams of farmland.
From the beginning of 2024 until the end of last month, PCHR has documented 806 attacks by settlers, resulting in the deaths of five civilians, including a child, and injuries to 81 others. These incidents included assaults on 134 civilians, burning and damaging dozens of homes and vehicles, as well as burning hundreds of dunams of farmland and displacing tens of families.
PCHR condemns settler violence, pointing out that most of it occurs under the protection of IOF, which intervene to secure settlers during their attacks and their subsequent withdrawal while suppressing Palestinians attempting self-defense. Often, no serious complaints or investigations are pursued.
PCHR calls on the international community and UN bodies to assume their legal and moral responsibilities, to take effective action to stop IOF and settlers’ crimes against Palestinians, and to act to provide protection for them.
