Communities across the occupied West Bank reported a sharp rise in settler violence on Friday, with groups targeting homes, farmland, places of worship and vehicles in a pattern that residents say has become a daily threat. The attacks, carried out under the protection or silence of nearby Israeli troops, have deepened fears of a coordinated effort to drive Palestinians from rural areas and expand settler control over strategic hilltops.

In towns stretching from Ramallah to Salfit, families described a series of overnight raids in which settlers set fire to property, damaged crops and painted racist slogans across homes. A roadside kiosk between Deir Jarir and Silwad was smashed in the early hours, prompting local young men to intervene and force the settlers to retreat. Farmers also reported livestock theft, including two cows taken from a family in Wadi Qana, an area repeatedly targeted due to its fertile land and proximity to expanding outposts.

One of the most serious incidents occurred near Biddya, where settlers torched parts of a local mosque, leaving charred walls and damaged furnishings. Residents rushed to extinguish the flames before they consumed the entire building, but community leaders warned that the targeting of religious sites marks a dangerous turn. Human-rights advocates say these acts form part of a wider climate of intimidation tied to the ongoing Israeli military campaign in the northern West Bank, where raids, home takeovers and widespread arrests have increased sharply.

As military units establish temporary positions inside Palestinian homes and settler groups push further into agricultural zones, residents fear that the latest surge reflects a broader attempt to reshape the region’s demographic and territorial reality. With law-enforcement mechanisms largely absent or complicit, villages warn that the violence is likely to intensify unless international pressure is brought to bear.