Palestinian killed as masked Israeli settlers storm West Bank town
Armed Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian town of Jit, east of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, killing at least one man overnight Thursday.
The Palestinian health ministry identified Rashid Mahmoud Abdel Qader Sadda, 23, as the victim. He was shot in the chest by one of the armed settlers.
Several other Palestinians have been wounded in the attack, one of them critically.
The masked settlers hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails while storming the Palestinian town. Some of them burned cars and destroyed property.
Footage from the scene shows Palestinians screaming while trying to put out the fires on their property.
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The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry decried what it called "organised state terrorism" on Jit.
"We demand the imposition of deterrent sanctions on the racist colonial system, the dismantling of the terrorist settler militias, and the prosecution of their members," it said.
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad called for Palestinians in the West Bank to stand up against Israeli settler violence in the wake of the attack.
"We call on our people in all governorates of the West Bank to rise up in anger to deter the settlers and repel their terrorist attacks," Hamas' statement read.
US Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, said he was "appalled" by the incident.
"These attacks must stop and the criminals be held to account," he posted on X.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the settlers will be held accountable, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called the attack "violent, radical riots".
In a surprising change of tone, Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, called it "criminal, anarchist violence".
Smotrich, who himself lives in an illegal settlement and often encourages violence against Palestinians, said the perpetrators of the Jit attack were "criminals who should be dealt with by the law enforcement authorities with the full severity of the law".
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
Settlers regularly carry out attacks against Palestinians in the occupied territory, often under Israeli military protection.
These attacks have increased following the outbreak of the war on Gaza.
Despite Israeli officials' condemnations, leading human rights organisations have said on several occasions that Israel was responsible for the increase in violence in the West Bank.
Human Rights Watch also documented the "active participation of army units" during settler attacks on Palestinians.
The Israeli army has also heavily increased its deadly raids on cities and towns across the occupied West Bank, with over 633 Palestinians killed there since the start of the war.
Israel’s government has strongly expanded its presence in the occupied territory in recent years, approving the creation of more illegal outposts.
These expansions make the creation of a Palestinian state, a key demand from western allies of Israel, effectively impossible.
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