Masked Israeli settlers have stormed a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank, firing tear gas that sent three young children to hospital and killing livestock, according to a Palestinian official. The overnight assault in the southern town of As Samu’ marks the latest in a sharp escalation of violence by settlers against Palestinian communities.
Details of the Violent Assault
Amir Dawood, who leads an office documenting such attacks within the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, stated that five masked settlers in dark clothing smashed the family's front door and a window. They then discharged tear gas inside the property. The attack resulted in three Palestinian children, all under the age of four, requiring hospital treatment.
The assailants also entered the family's sheep pen, where they killed three sheep and injured four others. Dawood confirmed this was the second targeted attack on the same family in less than two months. Israeli police reported arresting five settlers on suspicion of trespass, property damage, and dispensing pepper spray, adding that an investigation is ongoing.
A Pattern of Escalating Violence
Graphic CCTV footage and photographs shared by the commission show the masked figures approaching the home with batons, alongside images of the aftermath: a shattered door, broken car windows, and bloodied animals in the stable. Inside the home, furniture was ransacked and glass was strewn across the floor.
Dawood condemned the incident as "part of a systematic and ongoing pattern of settler violence targeting Palestinian civilians, their property and their means of livelihood, carried out with impunity under the protection of the Israeli occupation." This violence has spiked dramatically in recent months. During October's olive harvest, settlers launched an average of eight attacks daily across the West Bank, the highest rate recorded by the UN since it began collecting data in 2006. Attacks continued into November, with at least 136 incidents logged by 24 November.
Political Context and Settlement Expansion
The attack occurs against a political backdrop where Israel's government is dominated by far-right proponents of the settler movement. Key figures include Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Cabinet Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the national police force. Earlier this week, Smotrich announced the Israeli cabinet had approved a proposal for 19 new Jewish settlements in the territory, a move seen as another significant blow to the prospects for a future Palestinian state.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza in the 1967 war. It has since settled over 500,000 Jews in the West Bank, alongside more than 200,000 in contested east Jerusalem. These areas are claimed by Palestinians for a future independent state.
