Israeli settlers attack occupied West Bank village, killing one Palestinian

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Dozens of Israeli settlers rioted in an occupied West Bank village Thursday night, torching vehicles and buildings, the Israeli military said, resulting in at least one death, according to Palestinian reports.

The Israel Defense Forces said the settlers , some masked, entered the village of Jit and were throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said one Palestinian was killed and another was critically injured, according to WAFA , the state-run news agency of the Palestinian Authority.

The victim was identified as 22-year-old Rashid Mahmoud Sedda. The identity of the man critically injured was not released to the public, but the Palestine Red Crescent Society said he had sustained a chest wound and was rushed to a hospital, WAFA reported.

UPI has contacted the Palestinian Ministry of Health for confirmation. The IDF said it was looking into the reports.

A video of the incident circulated online by the Israel-based Yeshin Din human rights organization shows a car fully engulfed in flames while people can be heard screaming.

Four houses and six cars were burned in the riot, according to Yeshin Din.

Israeli soldiers and agents of Israel Border Patrol were on the scene "within minutes" of receiving reports of the violence, the IDF said, adding that the settlers were dispersed from the village.

At least one settler was arrested and turned over to Israel Police , though the IDF did not explain on what offense.

The IDF, Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police have launched an investigation into the riot, which was condemned by the IDF and other Israeli officials.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he takes the riot "seriously" and vowed that those responsible "for any criminal act will be caught and prosecuted."

President Isaac Herzog of Israel said he "strongly" condemns the attack that he said was carried out by "an extreme minority" that tarnishes the reputation of the "law-abiding community of settlers and the settlement as a whole."

"Law enforcement officials must act immediately against this serious phenomenon and bring the lawbreakers to justice," he said.

Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights are widely regarded as illegal under international law, and greater attention has been placed on Israel's occupation amid its war against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza .

Amid the war, extremist settler violence has surged. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there have been some 1,250 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians between Oct. 7 and Monday. The agency said 1,000 of those attacks resulted in property damage and 130 resulted in property damage and causalities, while 120 resulted in both Palestinian deaths and injuries.

The report also stated that 549 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank during that time, with only 10 blamed on Israeli settlers with another seven deaths where the perpetrators were unknown.

Democratic governments, including the United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada, have responded to the increase in violence with sanctions targeting individuals and entire outposts. The Biden administration has repeatedly said that the settlements stand in the way of achieving lasting peace in the region.

The cause of Thursday's night riot was not entirely clear, though Netanyahu said in his message that it was only the IDF and security forces who fought terrorism "and no one else."

The U.S.-based Jewish Israel Policy Forum called on all Israeli settlers involved in the riot to be arrested.

"Until the Israeli government treats it as the systemic terrorism that it is, incidents like this will continue," it said in a statement .

"It is imperative that all involved are arrested, prosecuted and face justice, and that illegal settlement and settler violence are treated as a law enforcement priority."