Israeli settlers have once again attacked Palestinian properties across the occupied West Bank, attempting to set houses on fire. The attacks took place on Thursday night when settlers, backed by Israeli forces, stormed towns and villages across the occupied territories and injured several Palestinians. The attacks came after two Israelis were killed in a drive-by shooting in the territory on Thursday night. The Tel Aviv regime has blamed the incident on Palestinian resistance groups. According to local media, the Israeli military declared the northern Nablus region in the occupied territory a closed military zone following the attacks. Earlier on Thursday, Israeli forces also shot and injured a 28-year-old Palestinian in Bethlehem. Settler violence Israeli forces and settlers have stepped up attacks on Palestinians during the past few months. The attacks have resulted in violent confrontations between the two sides. The settlers, mostly armed, regularly commit arson attacks against Palestinians and set fire to their mosques, olive groves, and other properties. A July arson attack on a Palestinian home in the town of Duma, located 25 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of Nablus, led to the deaths of a Palestinian couple and their 18-month-old toddler. A recent report by the Arab League, a regional 22-nation organization of Arab countries, said that settlers have carried out 11,000 assaults against Palestinian residents and their properties across the West Bank since January 2015. More than half a million Israelis live in some 120 illegal settlements built since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in 1967.
