Israeli settlers intensified attacks across several areas of the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, with Palestinian communities reporting arson attacks, property damage, shootings and raids on homes under the protection of Israeli forces.

Clashes erupted west of Ramallah after residents attempted to prevent settlers from establishing a new outpost on land belonging to the village of Deir Abu Mashal. Witnesses said Israeli troops moved into the area alongside settlers as confrontations spread between local residents and armed groups accompanying the expansion effort.

In the nearby village of Deir Dibwan, settlers reportedly broke into a house that was still under preparation and stole electrical equipment and tools. Further south in the Bethlehem area, groups of settlers gathered near the western entrance to Tuqu’, where they threw stones at passing Palestinian vehicles, damaging several cars and blocking the main road for periods of time.

Residents in Nahalin, west of Bethlehem, said armed settlers entered residential neighbourhoods, moved between homes and deliberately provoked families by shouting and making loud noises while carrying weapons openly. The incident triggered panic among residents, particularly children and elderly people.

In the northern Jordan Valley, a Palestinian shepherd was reportedly beaten while grazing livestock and later transferred for medical treatment with bruises and injuries. Residents also accused settlers of continuing efforts to force shepherds away from grazing land considered essential to their livelihoods. Elsewhere, water infrastructure supplying the Rashaydeh al-Badawi community was vandalised, leaving families struggling to access drinking water.

East of Ramallah, settlers set fire to large areas of agricultural land surrounding the predominantly Christian town of Taybeh. Local officials said gunfire was used to prevent residents and fire crews from reaching the flames as olive trees and crops burned across the hillside. Witnesses reported that Israeli soldiers and police later secured the settlers’ withdrawal from the area.

Palestinian monitoring groups say settler attacks have risen sharply in recent months during the ongoing genocidal war, with hundreds of incidents involving raids on villages, destruction of farmland and attacks on civilian vehicles recorded across the occupied West Bank.