ISRAELI settlers set fire to Palestinian homes and vehicles across the occupied West Bank at dawn yesterday, as hundreds more stormed the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem under police guard.
In Jalud, south of Nablus, settlers attacked the two homes of the al-Tubasi family just moments after they’d returned under Israeli army escort, following an Israeli court ruling that allowed them back two months after they were forced out.
Soldiers made no move to stop the attack. Once the family had been driven away, the settlers burned both houses, belonging to brothers Wael and Qais al-Tubasi, along with a vehicle, and wrecked their contents.
The occupation army admitted the arson, claiming more than 100 settlers had blocked roads, burned tyres and thrown stones at its troops.
At least 966 settlers entered Al-Aqsa through the Maghariba Gate yesterday to mark Sukkot, performing Talmudic prayers, dancing and singing, and listening to rabbis lecture on the ‘Temple Mount’, while police restricted Muslim worshippers and barred many from entering. About 1,792 settlers entered the compound on Monday.
In al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, settlers torched the home of prisoner Fikri Abu Alia and two vehicles.
Israeli forces raided homes across the West Bank overnight and into yesterday morning, seizing five Palestinians in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, and three young men in Anabta, near Tulkarem, and ransacking homes in Husan, near Bethlehem.
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan condemned the incursions, Jordan singling out the entry of Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia also condemned Israeli statements on annexing parts of southern Lebanon and of Gaza beyond the ‘Yellow Line’.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said Israel has no sovereignty over the territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem and its holy sites, and warned that the violations risk igniting a religious conflict.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has updated its database of companies involved in settlement activity to 214 firms from 11 countries, adding 61 and removing five.
It found that 200 contributed to adverse impacts on the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and 14 were directly linked to them.
Israeli firms dominate the list, alongside eight from the United States, three from Spain and two each from Britain, France and China.
Meanwhile, the rights group Tadamon warned in a report on Monday that withholding information on Palestinian detainees, from their whereabouts and legal status to their health and the circumstances of deaths in custody, obstructs medical care, legal challenges and accountability.
