Settlers set fire to two buildings belonging to residents of the Bedouin village of Mukhmas, in the Binyamin region, West Bank, Ynet and Palestinian Authority-run WAFA reported on Wednesday.
The village, northeast of Jerusalem, was attacked during the evening. The IDF and Border Police officers were called to the scene, but no suspects were arrested.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese condemned the attack, asking people to stop calling it settler violence and start to state this kind of action as an act of terror, "Let’s stop calling it settler violence. It is settler TERROR. These criminals roam the West Bank with impunity, and the world stays silent," she said in a post on her X/Twitter.
"The media sees it, the government sees it, and it all continues. They want to expel us from our homes by force. The goal is clear. We have no alternative and nowhere to flee. We are here, and we will remain here despite everything,” Muhammad Kaabneh, a civilian who lives in the village, told Ynet.
Residents noted that "there is no real protection” in the area. "Police and the army are present in the area, and sometimes we feel their presence only strengthens the settlers,” Kaabneh added.
After every attack, residents are requested to file a formal complaint, but they claimed that it is just a formality. According to them, no further investigations were conducted, closing the complaints' files without any true action.
'It's impossible to stand up to those numbers'
Kaabneh noted that settlers “come in large numbers, no fewer than 50 to 70 at a time. It’s impossible to stand up to those numbers.”
The civilian said that, last October, eight homes were burned in the same Bedouin village. The number was increased by four additional buildings and two vehicles set on fire in the last month.
He highlighted that in some of the attacks, gas was used allegedly as an attempt to "harm residents and volunteers," who come to assist them.
The European Union's representative in Jerusalem, Alexandre Stutzmann, visited the village on Thursday. He was accompanied by ambassadors from EU member states, and condemned the situation.
“Settler attacks are unacceptable. They require concrete measures to prevent their recurrence in the future,“ he said.
American Rabbi Eric Asherman, who is close to the village residents, explained that the Bedouin village, which consists of 18 families, is one of the most frequently targeted places by settler rioters. He noted that the residents are not willing to leave the place, even knowing that this means rebuilding after every destruction.
"People live for months in homes unfit for habitation, without doors, without dreams. At times, they depend on donations, and then everything is destroyed and rebuilt again. Their determination obligates us as well to continue being there for them,” he told Ynet.