Israeli settlers set fire to mosques, cars and farmland across the occupied West Bank, Palestinian residents said on Saturday, in a series of attacks that came just two days after deadly clashes in the same area.
The reported arson attacks targeted places of worship, vehicles and agricultural land, according to Palestinian accounts, though the full scale of the damage and the number of sites affected remained unclear as reports continued to emerge.
The latest violence follows a confrontation between settlers and Palestinians near the village of Tell on Thursday, which left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead. The clash marked one of the deadliest single incidents in the territory in recent weeks and has heightened tensions across the region.
Palestinian residents described scenes of burning fields and damaged property, saying the fires had spread to mosques, parked cars and cultivated land. The attacks add to a pattern of settler violence that Palestinians say has intensified in recent months.
The reports could not immediately be independently verified, and it was not yet clear whether Israeli authorities had made any arrests or opened investigations into the incidents.
The West Bank has seen a sharp rise in unrest, with confrontations between settlers, Palestinians and Israeli security forces occurring against the backdrop of a wider conflict in the region. International observers have repeatedly raised concerns over the safety of civilians in the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967 and where hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers now live in communities considered illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.
The events near Tell earlier in the week, in which both Palestinians and Israelis were killed, underscored the volatility of the situation and the risk of further escalation.
Authorities have not yet issued a detailed public statement on Saturday's reported attacks. The situation remains fast-moving, and further details are expected to follow.