Palestinian house set on fire in attack by Israeli settlers

A Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank was set ablaze overnight on Saturday in a suspected “revenge attack” by settlers as violence among settlers continues to rise following the Gaza war.

An empty house in Douma, south of Nablus, was arsonized by unknown perpetrators and covered in Hebrew graffiti. No injuries were reported.

The attack is just the latest in a series of violence against Douma, sparked by the death of a 14-year-old Israeli shepherd boy who went missing in the West Bank on April 12.

According to the UN, the arson attack comes among almost 800 attacks by settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 7 and the start of the Gaza war.

According to Israeli media reports, the walls of the house were vandalized with Hebrew graffiti reading “Price tag – 30 days since Binyamin’s death.”

The graffiti is an apparent reference to Benjamin Achimeir, the shepherd boy who was found dead while grazing sheep near the illegal settler outpost of Malachie Shalom the day after his disappearance.

The incident sparked a wave of aggression by Israeli settlers who raided the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir near Malachie Shalom, causing chaos and setting fire to vehicles and buildings.

One Palestinian and dozens of others were injured in the violence.

Duma has faced repeated attacks in response to reports of the missing Israeli boy. Hundreds of settlers stormed the village on April 13 and burned down around 15 houses, leaving scores of residents injured by gunfire.

The chairman of the village council said AP that the attack caused an estimated $1 million in damage.

Saturday’s arson attack is eerily reminiscent of a similar attack on the village in 2015, when three Palestinians, an 18-month-old baby and her parents were killed when settlers set fire to their home. An Israeli was later convicted of murder.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, at least 10 Palestinians have been killed in direct attacks by settlers since October.

But according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since then, either by Israeli forces or settlers. Since October 7, people have been displaced from 20 communities and at least seven communities have been uprooted by settlers.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are increasingly at risk from violent settlers encouraged by far-right members of the Israeli government.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has openly called for violence against Palestinians and the expansion of settlements that are considered illegal under international law.

Ben-Gvir, himself a settler, has also approved 100,000 gun licenses for Israeli nationals since October, many of them for those in West Bank settlements.

Israeli human rights groups have also pointed to the low prosecution rate of settler attacks and the army’s role in failing to intervene or stop the violence.

Israel’s Western allies have imposed sanctions on a handful of extremist settlers in recent months, but critics said the sanctions do not address the root of the violence.