SALFIT, May 23, 2025 (WAFA) — Israeli colonists, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, carried out a terror attack last night on the town of Bruqin, in the central West Bank province of Salfit, setting fire to homes and vehicles and injuring several Palestinian residents.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that its teams treated eight people for burn injuries sustained during the arson attacks. All injuries were treated at the scene.

According to local sources, a group of colonists stormed the Baqa’an neighborhood on the outskirts of the town, where they torched approximately five homes and five vehicles belonging to residents. The assailants also pelted other homes with stones, causing panic among families, especially women and children.

The destruction varied between total and partial damage. In response, residents broadcast urgent calls for help through mosque loudspeakers in efforts to contain the fires and protect the community.

Israeli forces, which had briefly withdrawn from Bruqin earlier in the day, returned in large numbers later in the evening. They blocked roads, raided several homes, conducted searches, and detained a child, Ayman Omar Sanad.

Incidents of violence perpetrated by Israeli colonists against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have sharply increased in recent years, drawing condemnation from international human rights organizations and UN officials. These attacks—often carried out with the tacit or active support of Israeli forces—include the torching of homes, vehicles, farmland, and olive groves, as well as physical assaults and the killing of civilians.

Human rights groups, including B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch, have documented a pattern of impunity in which colonists rarely face accountability for their actions. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has consistently reported spikes in colonist violence, particularly in areas near illegal outposts and settlements.

M.N