Settlers said to torch Palestinian fields, block fire trucks from reaching scene

PA news agency claims IDF soldiers who arrived also prevented emergency services from dealing with blaze; settler who allegedly beat dog said to attack cats in second incident

Settlers torched agricultural lands on the outskirts of the central West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir late Monday night, Palestinian media reported, in the latest in a string of seemingly unhindered attacks on Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news site said that the IDF arrived at the scene after the fire broke out and prevented residents from approaching the area to try and put it out, firing live rounds toward those who disobeyed.

Palestinian media also reported that settlers prevented ambulances and fire trucks from reaching the scene.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF.

Extremist settlers, sometimes in mobs, have been recorded on a near-daily basis carrying out a variety of violent attacks, including assaulting Palestinians, torching cars, and damaging property.

In another incident, settlers reportedly threw rocks at a truck near the West Bank village of Attara, near Ramallah, causing the Palestinian driver to swerve off the road and crash into a pole. It was unclear if the driver was injured.

Separately, three days after an Israeli settler was filmed brutally clubbing a guard dog in the central West Bank village of Atara, Palestinian media published a clip of what it said was the same man throwing a block at a pair of cats in the same village.

Israeli police reportedly launched an investigation into the attack on the dog, but no arrests have been made.

On Sunday, the Israel Police began an investigation after a settler driving an ATV was filmed running over a flock of sheep owned by a Palestinian in the area of Khirbet al-Tawil, near Nablus.

Multiple sheep were injured as a result of the incident, according to reports in Hebrew media.

The incidents were the latest to occur amid a years-long surge in unchecked settler violence in the West Bank.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly told that up to 80 percent of incidents that Israeli troops in the West Bank record are Jewish attacks on Palestinians. The statistic was shared with the premier by an officer in the IDF Central Command during a meeting on Jewish terrorism, the Kan public broadcaster reported.

Arrests in such cases are rare, and convictions are even less common, and the IDF has faced criticism for often standing by while attacks unfold — with troops sometimes actively participating — or failing to prosecute those responsible.

In contrast, the IDF frequently arrests Palestinians who are involved in violent confrontations with settler attackers.