Settler Attacks Escalate Across West Bank as Israeli Raids Continue for Third Consecutive Day

BETHLEHEM, Occupied West Bank (PNN) 
Israeli forces carried out widespread military raids across the occupied West Bank for a third consecutive day on Sunday, as Israeli settlers launched coordinated attacks on Palestinian communities and property in several governorates, according to Palestinian officials and local residents.
Overnight and into Sunday morning, extremist settlers carried out a series of attacks that included setting fire to a mosque, blocking roads, damaging Palestinian vehicles, vandalizing homes and carrying out other assaults, Palestinian sources said. The attacks were carried out under the protection of Israeli forces, they added.
In the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, settlers set fire to Al-Rahma Mosque during an overnight attack. Local sources said the assailants also spray-painted anti-Palestinian graffiti on the mosque and surrounding property.
Israeli forces continued their operation in the nearby village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, where troops raided dozens of homes, detained scores of young men for field interrogations and arrested several residents.
The military operation in Tal entered its third consecutive day, with large-scale house searches and arrests creating what residents described as an atmosphere of fear, particularly among women and children.
Walid Zaidan, head of the Tal Village Council, said residents were living under increasingly difficult conditions because of the ongoing military incursions and repeated settler attacks.
"People no longer feel safe even inside their own homes," Zaidan said, adding that threats once limited to agricultural land had now extended into residential neighborhoods.
The Israeli military said its forces had "mapped and sealed" the homes of two Palestinians accused of carrying out a recent shooting attack near the village and were preparing the buildings for demolition.
In a separate incident, settlers attacked a home in the village of Beit Furik, east of Nablus, and spray-painted hostile graffiti, according to local sources.
The violence also spread to the governorates of Hebron, Qalqilya, Salfit, Jericho and Bethlehem, where settlers gathered at the entrances of towns and along major roads, attacking Palestinian vehicles while Israeli forces imposed additional movement restrictions during military operations.
Near the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, settlers attacked the Ein Samia stone quarry, setting fire to heavy machinery and equipment and destroying the site, Palestinian sources said.
Israeli military raids were also reported in Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Salfit, Nablus, Ramallah, Jericho, Tubas, Bethlehem and Hebron. Troops searched dozens of homes and carried out a wide-scale arrest campaign targeting dozens of Palestinians, including former prisoners. In several locations, soldiers fired live ammunition and stun grenades during the operations, according to local accounts.
In the southern Hebron area, settlers also blocked the entrance to the eastern Badia area near Yatta by placing earthen mounds across the road, restricting Palestinian movement, local residents said. ...