Israeli settler rampage in West Bank kills Palestinian as president condemns "pogrom"
Jit, West Bank - Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday condemned a "pogrom" after a Jewish settler rampage on a village in the illegally occupied West Bank killed one Palestinian and wounded another.
Mahmoud Abdel Qader Sadda, 23, "was martyred, and a citizen was critically injured in the chest by settlers' bullets" in the village of Jit, west of Nablus, a Palestinian health ministry statement said.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing local sources, said "armed colonists" attacked the western part of the village, "setting several vehicles ablaze."
The Israeli military said "dozens of Israeli civilians, some of them masked", entered Jit and "set fire to vehicles and structures in the area, hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails."
One Israeli was taken for questioning, said a military statement, which did not confirm the Palestinian man's death.
"I strongly condemn this evening's pogrom in Samaria," Herzog wrote on X, using the name of the biblical province corresponding to the northern West Bank.
"This is an extreme minority that harms the law-abiding settler population and the settlement as a whole and the name and position of Israel in the world during a particularly sensitive and difficult period," he added.
There are over a quarter of a million Israeli settlers illegally occupying the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem.
Extremist Israeli minister says settler attacks "have nothing to do with settlements"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that he "takes seriously the riots that took place this evening."
Israeli violence in the West Bank had been surging for years before it was supercharged on October 7. Since then, over 600 Palestinians were killed by settlers and soldiers.
Netanyahu, head of the conservative Likud party, has been leading a far-right government that actively pushes for more illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank or even outright annexation.
His right-wing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the extremist architect of the upsurge in Israeli settlements, falsely said on X that the attackers in Jit had "nothing to do with the settlement and the settlers."
"They are criminals who must be dealt with by the law enforcement authorities with the full force of the law," he added.
Consequences for violence committed against Palestinians – whether by settlers, soldiers, or police forces – are vanishingly rare.
White House wags finger at Israel
The White House on Thursday condemned the "unacceptable" attacks.
"Attacks by violent settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are unacceptable and must stop," a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement.
"Israeli authorities must take measures to protect all communities from harm, this includes intervening to stop such violence, and holding all perpetrators of such violence to account."
The US has taken only timid steps to sanction the most visible and violent settlers, while ignoring the Israeli state's role in it. What's more, tax-exempt non-profits and rich donors in the US are among the biggest contributors to the settler movement.
Aside from arming and funding Israel in its destruction of Gaza, President Joe Biden's administration has also opposed a recent advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justices, which ruled that the occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and violates laws against apartheid and racial discrimination.
Cover photo: REUTERS