Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

On Day 119 of the US-Backed Israeli Genocidal War on Gaza Strip, 13 Massacres, 112 Palestinians Killed, 148 Injured, with a Death Toll of  27,131 and 66,287 Injuries

February 2, 2024 

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Editor's Notes:  

Here are some initial (not final) statistics, which show the Israeli war crimes against humanity, during the current Israeli genocidal war on Gaza Strip:  

By February 2, 2024, the initial death toll of Palestinians who have been killed by the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza Strip is 34,131+.   

This includes the accounted for deaths (27,131) and those who are still missing under the rubble (Corrected on January 31, 2024: 7,000+).   

By February 2, 2024, the documented injuries exceeded 66,287, and more than 2,520 civilians have been abducted from Gaza Strip.

By January 17, 2024, about 661 detainees from Gaza are currently languishing in Israeli prisons as “illegitimate combatants” (the Israeli term for Palestinian fighters) in addition to more than 50 Gazan women detained in Damon prison, noting that 8 women of whom have been recently released.

By January 31, 2023, the death toll included 11,730+ children and 8,000+ women (more than 70% of the victims). 

By February 2, 2024, there were 382 Palestinians who were killed, 3,632 who were injured, and 6,485, who were abducted by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank, since October 7, 2023 (Some of the detainees have been released).

About 12,091 Palestinians, from both the West Bank and Gaza, have been detained in 2023. About half of them were detained after October 7. This included 1,085 children and 300 women.

The total number of detainees in the occupation prisons until the end of December was 8,800, and the number of administrative detainees was 3,291.

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By January 9, 2023,  there was a complete destruction of 69,000+ housing units, and a partial destruction of 290,000+ housing units (60% of Gaza housing units). This forced about 1.5 million people to become homeless, taking refuge in crowded UN schools and ultimately sleeping in the streets.  

The Israeli refusal to allow international aid caravans to enter Gaza freely led the Palestinian population to be on the verge of mass extermination for the lack of food, water, medicine, and fuel.  

By January 31, 2024, 339 health personnel and 97 journalists were killed and hundreds were injured, 121 ambulances were destroyed while on duty, killing and injuring their crews, and destroyed 150 health institutions. As a result of the strikes and lack of fuel, 30 hospitals and 53 primary care centers are not functioning. In addition, 99 health personnel and 10 journalists have been abducted by the invading Israeli occupation forces.

Meanwhile, 134 government offices and 95 schools and universities were completely destroyed, while 295 schools and universities were partially damaged.

138 mosques were completely destroyed, while 240 others were partially damaged, in addition to three churches.

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Palestinian children constituted most of the victims of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, February 2, 2024	A Palestinian elder who was abducted and tortured by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, after his release, on February 2, 2024
A Dair El-Bala'h house, which was destroyed by an Israeli genocidal air strike, February 1, 2024	A Palestinian rescuer bidding farewell to his martyred son, who was killed in an Israeli genocidal air strike on Dair El-Bala'h
Palestinian civilians getting decayed corpses of martyrs from under the rubble after the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces, February 2, 2024	A Palestinian house, which was destroyed by an Israeli genocidal air strike on Gaza Strip, February 2, 2024
The Israeli occupation forces open fire on Palestinian displaced civilians in Khan Younus, February 2, 2024	Palestinian children lining up to get charitable food soup in Dair El-Bala'h, where most of the population is suffering hunger, due to the four-month Israeli genocidal war on Gaza Strip, February 2, 2024

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

"مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَنْ قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا"  (الْمَائِدَةُ ، 5: 32).

"وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُّتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا" (النِّسَاءُ ، 4: 93).

"إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا ۚ " (الإسْرَاءُ ، 17: 7). 

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul, or for corruption in the land, it is as if he had killed humankind entirely" (The Holy Quran, Al-Ma-ida, 5: 32).

"And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him, and has cursed him, and has prepared for him a great torment" (Al-Nisa, 4: 93).

"If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, (you do it) to yourselves" (Al-Isra, 17: 7). 

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While brutal force has been used to create Zionist Israel and sustain it thus far, Zionist claims to Palestine are false. Actually, from the five thousand years of known written human history, there has been a continuous Palestinian-Canaanite presence in the Holy Land. Despite the Zionist false claims, the ancient Israelites ruled part of the land for only 85 years (during the reign of Prophets David and Solomon , peace be upon them, and Solomon's son).

 After that, the Egyptians conquered Palestine-Canaan in 925 BC, followed by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, before the Arab Muslim rule, starting from 636 AD.

By the Time Jesus, peace be upon him, started his mission, the three population groups of Canaanites, Palestinians, and Israelites were melted together in religion and language. Most of them became Christians when Constantine converted in 313 AD. Then, most of them became Muslims in the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

So, Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews are the ones who have the right to claim descent from ancient Israelites, Palestinians, and Canaanites, not Zionists from other continents.

No matter what the Zionists and their supporters do, they cannot change the will of God, Who promised the Holy Land to Abraham and his descendants, basically the Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

No matter how much persecution and aggression the Zionists and their supporters inflict upon the Palestinian people, they will never be able to force them out of the Holy Land, which Allah, praise to Him, promised for them, and kept His promise ever since.

This is a necessary brief background to understand the US-Backed Zionist Israeli continuous wars against the Arab nation generally, and the Palestinian people in particular, which included the wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, the brutal crushing of the two Uprisings (1987-1993 and 2000-2004), 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, and the current genocidal war on Gaza, which has culminated a blockade of Gaza since 2007. In addition, the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime launched so many covert operations, raids, and air strikes on many Arab states since 1948.

The following news stories are just examples, not a systematic record, of the Israeli occupation government abuse, mistreatment, and violations of Palestinian human rights, on daily basis.

More detailed news stories can be found at the following sources:

http://english.wafa.ps/, https://english.palinfo.com/, https://imemc.org/, https://paltoday.ps/ar/


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Editorial Notes about terms & names of people and places:

1. Names of people and places have been standardized to match standard Arabic grammatical rules.

2. Underlined letters and letters preceded by an apostrophe are references to Arabic letter sounds, which does not exist in the English alphabet.

3. The English letter i is equivalent to the Arabic short vowel known as kasra, as in Ibraheem and Qasim as well as in the English words sit and bit. So, it is incorrect to use it as a long vowel for such Arabic names as Jameel and Jibreel.

4. The English letter e is equivalent to the Arabi short vowel known as fat'ha, as in A'hmed and Mu'hammed.

5. It is more accurate to refer to the land-grabbing Israelis, who establish illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, as illegal Israeli settlers, than referring to them as colonists.

The term colony is a reference to a large entity or a country, such as American states before independence. It was also a reference to Egypt, and India, when they were British colonies.

In addition, the term "colony" represents a positive nostalgic theme, in the minds of native speakers of English, particularly in America and Britain.

6. It is more accurate to use the verb "abduct" than the verb "detain," in reference to taking Palestinian citizens by force to prisons and interrogation centers, by Israeli occupation regime soldiers. This is because the presence of the Israeli occupation regime forces is illegal in the Palestinian territories, and they have no jurisdiction over the Palestinian people.

Click here for more about using the apostrophe and the underlining of letters in the transliteration of Arabic names.

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UNICEF: 17,000 Children in Gaza have become orphaned or separated from their families

Friday 2-February-2024, GAZA, (PIC)

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has revealed that around 17,000 children in Gaza Strip have become orphaned or separated from their families during the ongoing Israeli aggression since October 7th of 2023.

The organization added that almost all children in the Strip – more than a million children – are in need of support in the field of mental health.

Jonathan Crick, the Communications Officer at UNICEF in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Friday that the children show symptoms such as extremely high levels of continuous anxiety, loss of appetite, inability to sleep, or experiencing emotional outbursts or panic every time they hear the sound of shelling.

For her part, Catherine Russell, the Executive Director of UNICEF, warned against abandoning the children of Gaza, saying that their situation is growing darker day by day.

A statement by the Joint Permanent Committee of United Nations agencies, dated January 31st, warned that the countries that suspended their financial support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, would lead to a catastrophe for the people of Gaza.

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Released Palestinian prisoners tell horrific stories of brutal torture in Israeli jails

Friday 2-February-2024, GAZA, (PIC)

Testimonies by Palestinian prisoners recently released from Israeli occupation prisons revealed a number of violations and practices of torture being committed against them in detention.

Israeli occupation authorities have recently released 114 Gazan prisoners and returned them to the Gaza Strip through Karm Abu Salim crossing in the southern tip of the enclave.

Local sources reported that nine of the released prisoners were transferred to Abu Yousuf Al-Najjar Hospital to receive treatment and undergo medical examinations after their health conditions deteriorated as a result of brutal torture they were subjected to at the hands of Israeli occupation forces (IOF). The rest of the released detainees were transferred to shelter centers, the sources added.

Released prisoners narrated details of cruel torture they encountered inside Israeli prisons, as signs of torture and beatings were so obvious on their bodies and skins.

Speaking to Aljazeera, the elderly Mahmoud Al-Nabulsi said, “The IOF stormed my house in Al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younus. I told them I was sick and could not move, but they arrested me any way and put me inside a demolished house before being transferred to Israeli detention centers. I spent ten days in prison. We were beaten and tortured every day. I had never seen this torture in my life. They carried out the worst violations against us.”

“If I had stayed in prison for two more days, I would have lost my life. They kept asking me about Hamas’s tunnels and Israeli captives. I told them I did not know anything. I am 70 years old,” Al-Nabulsi added.

“We were deprived of drinking water for 4 days. They were pouring water on the ground in front of us while we were thirsty,” he said.

The released prisoner Nidal Mansour said while lying on his back in hospital that he was arrested with others after the IOF destroyed his house in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of Gaza City in mid-November. There are hundreds of other prisoners who are still held in detention camps inside and around the Gaza Strip and subjected to the most severe forms of torture by the IOF, he added.

In one testimony from Khalid Al-Nabris from Khan Younus, he said, “When we evacuated Khan Yunis and passed the checkpoint, I was kidnapped by Israeli troops who took me along with others to prisons where we were subjected to severe torture. We were forced to use wet blankets under extreme cold with no water to drink.”

“The IOF transferred us to another place. There, we were subjected to a new kind of torture as we witnessed a different kind of torture in each place we were taken to. The officer hit me on the head, and when I complained, he would hit me more. I could not sleep because of the cold. Besides physical torture, we went through a process of psychological insults and humiliation.”

Al-Nabris pointed out that “There are minors who were terrified of the torture practices inside prisons as they were subjected to increased doses of torture and get attacked by dogs while asleep.”

Detainees from Gaza are subjected to enforced disappearance as the IOF refuses to disclose their names or places of detention and prevents any party from contacting them.

The exact number of detainees from Gaza is still unknown, while some estimates indicate thousands of detainees are being held amid the continuation of daily arrests. 

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PRCS calls for international protection to Al Amal Hospital

Friday 2-February-2024, GAZA, (PIC)

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) affirmed that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to target and besiege Al-Amal Hospital for the twelfth consecutive day.

The IOF persisted in intense shelling and gunfire around the hospital, the PRCS said in a statement.

Meanwhile, four displaced individuals at the PRCS building were killed and six wounded as a result of shooting by Israeli snipers at the PRCS building in Khan Yunis.

The Director of the Youth and Volunteers Department in Gaza, Hidaya 'Hamad, was among those killed.

The PRCS appealed to the international community to assist and intervene to protect civilians, health care and humanitarian workers.

It also called for the opening of an urgent humanitarian corridor to evacuate the displaced people who are still trapped inside the hospital. 

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PRCS warns of severe shortage of infant formula

Friday 2-February-2024, GAZA, (PIC)

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) warned of the severe shortage of infant formula, endangering breastfeeding infants.

The PRCS also affirmed that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to target and siege Al-Amal Hospital for the eleventh consecutive day.

According to the PRCS, the IOF persisted in intense shelling and gunfire around the hospital, carrying out repeated incursions into the hospital.

It also pointed to the severe shortage of available food for staff, patients, and displaced individuals, leading to reducing meals to one per day to preserve remaining supplies.

PRCS teams buried five martyrs in the hospital courtyard on Thursday due to the ongoing siege, bringing the total number of martyrs buried in the hospital courtyard to 15 since the beginning of the siege.

The PRCS further noted that seven patients and wounded individuals face life-threatening situations if not transported to receive treatment abroad.

As the US-backed Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip entered day 119 on Friday, massive aerial and artillery strikes continued to pound neighborhoods, homes, and shelter centers and massacre more civilians, mostly children and women. 

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Killing and Injuring of Palestinians in Ghazza (Gaza) by Israeli Occupation Regime Forces

On February 2, 2024, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra, the Spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the Israeli genocidal air strikes and bombardment on Gaza Strip resulted in 13 massacres, in which  112 Palestinian civilians were killed, and 148 were injured, in the past 24 hours. This increased the death toll in Gaza Strip to 27,131 and the injuries to 66,287, since October 7, 2023.   

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Ministry of Health: 112 Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours

Friday 2-February-2024, GAZA, (PIC)

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced on Friday that 112 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) over the past 24 hours.

It added in a statement that the IOF committed 13 massacres against Gaza civilians killing 112 and injuring 148 others.

It said that a number of victims were still under the rubble and in the streets but the civil defense crews and ambulances cannot reach them due to the IOF restrictions and heavy fire opened on them whenever they attempt to rescue or retrieve the victims.

The number of martyrs thus rose to 27,131 and the injured to 66,287 in the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip that started on October 7 last year.

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US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza enters day 119

Friday 2-February-2024, GAZA, (PIC)

As the US-backed Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip entered day 119 on Friday, massive aerial and artillery strikes continued to pound neighborhoods, homes, and shelter centers and massacre more civilians, mostly children and women.

A reporter for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) said that the Israeli occupation army continued to attack different areas of Gaza last night and on Friday morning, killing and injuring dozens of citizens.

Israeli warplanes launched massive airstrikes east of Rafa'h, to the south of the Gaza Strip.

A displaced person and a girl were injured in an airstrike on a house located near the Gaza European Hospital, east of Khan Younus

The Israeli artillery also fired flare bombs simultaneously with artillery shelling on Khan Younus.

Meanwhile, 12 martyrs from the Sharab family were found dead in their home several weeks after being targeted in an Israeli airstrike in the Al-Sikka area in central Khan Younus. 

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Israeli troops open fire at Red Crescent building in Khan Younus, killing three civilians

GAZA, Friday, February 2, 2024 —

Three civilians were killed and three others injured today, including an employee, as Israeli occupation forces opened fire on the building of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Khan Younus, south of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed the casualties, stating that three citizens lost their lives, and three others were wounded, including one of their staff members, due to the gunfire from Israeli occupation forces directed towards the society's building in Khan Younus.

The society further reported that Israeli snipers continue to fire at the building, which shelters thousands of displaced individuals. The Red Crescent emphasized that its teams are unable to transfer the wounded to the nearby Al-Amal Hospital due to the continuing Israeli gunfire.

Earlier, the society reported injuries among displaced individuals at Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younus, as the roof collapsed on them amid the continuous Israeli bombardment and gunfire in the vicinity of the hospital.

The humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating, with severe shortages in fuel at the Al-Amal Hospital, an affiliate of the Red Crescent Society, in Khan Younus. The oxygen supply at the hospital is once again on the verge of running out, along with a critical shortage of food.

Patients with kidney diseases are now in a perilous stage, unable to be transferred to other hospitals due to the ongoing Israeli blockade, according to the Red Crescent. Additionally, rainwater leakage in the buildings, causing further suffering, is exacerbated by extremely cold weather conditions.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society urgently appealed to the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli occupation forces to allow the entry of oxygen, food, and fuel to the hospital.

M.N

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Killing, Injuring, and Abduction of Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli Occupation Regime Forces 

 

IOFs abduct 25 Palestinians in West Bank, bringing the tally to 6,485 since Oct. 7

Friday 2-February-2024, WEST BANK, (PIC)

Alongside the Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have not stopped ramping up their arrest campaigns in the West Bank.

The IOF troops on Friday detained 25 more Palestinians in various areas of the West Bank and Jerusalem, including a woman, an injured person, and a child.

The arrests were mainly reported in Qalqilya, Jineen, Al-Khaleel, Toubas, Toulkarm, and Occupied Jerusalem, according to a statement issued by Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society.

During the Israeli occupation regime forces' abduction campaigns, the IOF soldiers also beat, abused Palestinians, and conducted field interrogations, in addition to damaging their homes and other property.

The new arrests brought the total number of Palestinians detained by the IOF since Oct. 7 to 6,485.

Tensions have been high across the West Bank since the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7.

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Fresh Israeli raids across the West Bank

Friday 2-February-2024, WEST BANK, (PIC)

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) launched a large-scale raid and arrest campaign across the West Bank, which led to the outbreak of violent confrontations at dawn Friday.

In Jineen, 18 Israeli military vehicles stormed the city and broke into several local homes amid heavy firing of live ammunition and teargas bombs, which led to the outbreak of violent clashes.

At least three Palestinians, including a father and son, were detained during the raids.

Meanwhile, the IOF carried out a massive raid and detention campaign in Baqat Al-Hatab, 'Hajjah, and 'Azzoun villages in Qalqilya.

At least 12 Palestinians were rounded up during the raids, while several local homes were violently stormed and searched.

Similar raids were also reported in Nablus, while a group of illegal Jewish Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian vehicle and attacked local homes in Al-Sawiya town, south of the city.

The IOF also stormed Al-Khaleel, broke into the house of the prisoner 'Hamid Al-Qawasma, and brutally attacked his brother.

Meanwhile, clashes erupted in Bait Fajjar town, south of Bait La'hm (Bethlehem), after it was violently stormed by IOF troops.

A violent raid campaign was also carried out in Toubas and Aree'ha (Jericho). 

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Aggression and Attacks by Illegal Israeli Settlers and Soldiers

Illegal settler who is an extremist Israeli minister Smotrich unveils plan for 7,000 new illegal Israeli settlement housing units in West Bank

TEL AVIV, Friday, February 2, 2024 (WAFA) –

Hard-right Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank, has unveiled a plan to build 7,000 new housing units for Israeli colonists in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

According to the daily, Smotrich intends to convene the so-called High Planning Council to approve the construction of approximately 7,000 new colonial housing units. It is expected that over 2,000 of these units will go to the final approval stage, though these figures are still subject to review.

The newspaper clarified that convening the council requires political-level approval, noting that the council last met in June of the previous year.

Colonial settlement construction in the occupied territories has been a longstanding obstacle to peace in Palestine, since the colonial Israeli settlements undermine the geographic contiguity of the Palestinian territory.

M.N.

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Israeli soldiers open fire at Palestinian car in Hebron, detain driver

HEBRON, Friday, February 2, 2024 (WAFA) –

 Israeli occupation forces tonight detained a Palestinian youth after opening fire at his vehicle in the city of Hebron, the southern occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Sources told WAFA that Israeli soldiers opened fire at a Palestinian car in the Al-Ras neighborhood, northeast of Al-Ibraheemi Mosque in Hebron, and detained the driver.

The youth was taken to an unknown destination by the army.

T.R.

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Illegal Israeli settler intentionally plows his car into flock of sheep owned by Palestinian, kills one and injures another

BETHLEHEM, Friday, February 2, 2024 (WAFA) –

An illegal Israeli settler tonight intentionally plowed his car into a flock of sheep in the village of Kisan, east of Bait La'hm (Bethlehem), said a local official.

The head of the Kisan village, Mousa 'Abayat, told WAFA correspondent that a colonist rammed his car into a flock of sheep near the main street in the said village, which resulted in the killing of one sheep and the injury of another.

The flock of sheep belongs to a local resident.

T.R.

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Illegal Israeli settlers torch vehicle and attack homes south of Nablus

NABLUS, Friday, February 2, 2024 (WAFA) -

Illegal Israeli settlers went on a rampage last night into the town of Sawiya, located south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to a civilian vehicle and launching an attack on the homes of local residents.

Local sources confirmed that the assailants, identified as heavily armed gangs of colonists, carried out the assault on the neighborhood of Al-Joara in the town. 

During the attack, the colonists deliberately set ablaze a vehicle belonging to one of the town's citizens before locals were able to fend off the attack.

No injuries were reported among the local citizens.

Terror attacks by Israeli settler militias are a common feature of the daily life under colonial settler occupation, but have seen exponential growth in recent months with the rise of ultranationalist fascism in Israel's government coalition.

M.N

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