Nablus in Flames: Houses Destroyed and Shops Set Alight

Yesterday, Palestinians in the village of Hawara in the north of the occupied West Bank came to terms with the destruction and vandalism committed at night by Israeli settlers who sought revenge for the murder of two settlers. The night sky was lit up by fires that blazed Sunday night in the village, where settlers destroyed and burned “over 30 houses and 100 cars,” according to Waji Odeh, a member of its municipal council. An AFP photographer captured burning houses, the flames leaving traces on their walls, as well as cars, charred trees and broken windows. Kamal Odeh, a village resident, said: “Dozens of shops and dozens of houses were burned and destroyed.” “Even the trees were not spared. They burned everything. They burned everything in front of them,” he told AFP. Settlers from different parts of the village carried out the attack after a firefight that claimed the lives of two settlers (aged 20 and 22) from the Har Bracha settlement. The perpetrator, who is still being pursued by the military, opened fire on them as they drove their vehicle near the Hawara junction on the road between the cities of Ramallah and Nablus. Tensions are rising in the West Bank. On Wednesday, the Israeli army conducted a military operation in the city of Nablus that lasted more than 3 hours, as a result of which 11 Palestinians were killed and more than 80 were wounded by live bullets. On Sunday evening, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of Sameh Hamdallah Aktash (37), who died from severe wounds received by live bullets in the stomach as a result of an attack by occupying forces and settlers on the village of Zatara. , near Nablus. The funeral of Aktash took place on the same evening. His brother Abdel Moneim said, “It was the army, not the settlers, who shot my brother.” He added: “My brother and I were standing in front of a blacksmith shop adjacent to the main road. Settlers came and tried to attack us, but we resisted. They left and then returned with an occupying army.” The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that as a result of these incidents, 98 people received medical treatment, most of them suffocated after inhaling tear gas.Israeli ambulance service said that three Israelis were injured after they were stoned.And on Monday, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid spoke of “complete chaos” and tweeted that “the government has lost control of terrorism, the cabinet, the Knesset and the settlers.”