Israeli settlers raid West Bank village close to where pregnant woman killed

By Ali Sawafta

BRUQIN, West Bank (Reuters) -Israeli settlers torched Palestinian vehicles and houses in the occupied West Bank, Israel's army and villagers said, the latest in a series of attacks on the village of Bruqin, close to the location where a pregnant settler was killed this month.

Palestinian residents in Bruqin, who say they have faced constant attacks and abuse from Israeli settlers nearby, said a large group had shown up during the night, throwing Molotov cocktails and beating anyone in their way.

Akram Sabra, a resident of the village, said he had left his home to watch as dozens, possibly a hundred, people burned cars belonging to him and his family and threw a Molotov cocktail incendiary at his son's house.

"I saw my vehicles were burned and then they beat me on the head and I am still dizzy," he said.

The Israeli military said it had received a report on Thursday that Israeli civilians had vandalised property in the area of the village, in the northern part of the West Bank.

"Upon receiving the report, IDF (Israel Defence Force) soldiers were dispatched to the scene. The suspects fled prior to the arrival of IDF soldiers," it said, adding that no injuries were reported and the incident was under review.

Israeli forces have imposed a strict lockdown in and around Bruqin following the killing of Tzeela Gez, a heavily pregnant resident of the nearby settlement of Bruchin.

The Israeli military said this week troops searching the area near Bruqin had killed her attacker, who it said had previously served a prison sentence for being a member of the militant group Hamas, and arrested several others suspected of helping with the attack.

Since the killing of Gez, Palestinians have reported multiple attacks in the area by settlers who have burned cars, thrown stones and incendiary devices at houses and bulldozed land belonging to Palestinians.

"They come at us almost on a daily basis, even sometimes several times a day," said Mustafa Khater, 45, another Bruqin resident. "They attack us with stones and abuse."

The United Nations humanitarian organization OCHA said more than 11,000 Palestinians in Bruqin and Kafr ad Dik towns were blocked in, with 28 attacks by settlers resulting in injury or property damage reported in the week to May 19.

In all, it said there were 1,449 attacks last year, the highest level in more than 20 years.

DISPLACEMENT

Settler attacks against Palestinian villages in the West Bank have intensified sharply since the start of the Gaza war, as new settlement building has accelerated under the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The latest attacks took place as the Israeli military has been conducting its largest operation in the West Bank since the Second Intifada, or uprising two decades ago.

The operation, which has focused on refugee camps in volatile northern cities including Jenin and Tulkarm, has displaced more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to United Nations figures, and added to fears among many Palestinians of a wider drive towards a full Israeli takeover of the West Bank.

Several leading ministers in Netanyahu's government, including the pro-settler Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have called openly for the annexation of the West Bank and the displacement of large sections of the Palestinian population.

The West Bank, which Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, was seized by Israeli forces in the 1967 Middle East war and been under military occupation ever since.

Most countries consider settlements to be illegal under international law. Israel disputes that, citing historical and Biblical connections of the Jewish people to the area.

(Writing by James MackenzieEditing by Gareth Jones)