Arson attacks on Palestinian property and land in the occupied West Bank have passed 1,180 in three years, a Palestinian government body says, as the United Nations records its highest monthly count of settler attacks since monitoring began.
The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said it recorded 1,182 arson attacks between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2026, including in East Jerusalem — 809 against property, vehicles and facilities, and 373 against land.
FAKTA
- Arson attacks recorded: 1,182, from 7 October 2023 to 30 September 2026 — Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.
- Property, vehicles and facilities hit: 809; attacks on land: 373.
- Worst-hit areas: Ramallah and al-Bireh, 376 cases; Nablus, 335 — together 711, or 60.2 per cent.
- October 2026: the UN humanitarian office OCHA recorded 457 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage — its highest monthly figure since 2006.
- Latest incident: Lubban al-Sharqiya, south of Nablus, early on Wednesday 11 November — a scrapyard fire that destroyed more than 100 vehicles, the village council said.
A scrapyard in flames
The latest incident struck before dawn on Wednesday in Lubban al-Sharqiya, a village south of Nablus. Local sources said more than 50 settlers from nearby outposts poured accelerant over vehicles at a scrapyard, then set them alight. The flames spread to olive trees, warehouses and streetlights, cut power in parts of the village and left residents suffering from smoke inhalation. The village council put the damage at more than one million shekels.
Israeli forces said they reached the village after the arson reports and were searching for suspects. No injuries were reported. The village had been attacked before: in April, the commission said, a house, two tents and three vehicles were burned there and residents assaulted. Its October report also recorded two vehicles burned nearby in Wadi al-Shaer.
A three-year pattern
The attacks spread across the West Bank. After Ramallah and Nablus, Hebron recorded 112 cases, Jenin 73 and Bethlehem 64. Tulkarem reported 61, Salfit 44, Qalqilya 39, Jerusalem 32, Tubas 29 and Jericho 17. The commission also accused Israeli forces of shielding the attackers and blocking residents and emergency crews from the sites.
In a separate monthly report, the same body said settler attacks more than doubled in October, rising to 1,369 from 647 in September, and counted 1,764 attacks by Israeli forces in the same period.
A record month for settler violence
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded 457 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage in October, the highest monthly figure in two decades of tracking. It also counted 377 attacks linked to the olive harvest since 1 September, the highest season total since 2006.
Violence, arrests, demolitions and settlement expansion have continued across the occupied West Bank since October 2023. Palestinian officials say the figures show the destruction of property and farmland has become a sustained pattern, not a series of isolated incidents.
More international news is available on the Watan News English pages.
