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- October 17, 202614°
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U.S. citizen Zaatar says settlers surrounded his home and burned three vehicles
Mustafa Eid Zaatar, a Palestinian who is a U.S. citizen, said armed settlers surrounded his home and burned three of his vehicles around 1:30 a.m. in the village of Abu Falah, east of Ramallah in the West Bank. Zaatar said village residents drove the settlers away and extinguished the fire.
Mustafa Eid Zaatar, a Palestinian who is a U.S. citizen and lives in the village of Abu Falah, east of Ramallah in the West Bank, described the attack on his home and the burning of his vehicles.
Zaatar said dozens of Israeli settlers, including armed individuals, entered the village and surrounded his home. The settlers damaged the structure, broke the windows and set three vehicles on fire around 1:30 a.m.
Zaatar said he monitored the incident through 14 security cameras at his home and that the fire in the vehicles grew within approximately 10 minutes. He said village residents later gathered, drove the settlers away and extinguished the flames.
Zaatar said villagers feared that the settlers would open fire on them. He said two young men were killed in the same area during a settler attack last year.
Emphasizing that they did not want to leave their land, Zaatar said the settlers were trying to force them to relocate. Despite this, he said they would continue living in the village.
Zaatar's family contacted the U.S. consulate
Zaatar said he did not feel that his U.S. citizenship protected him and noted that he had nine children and 75 grandchildren in the United States.
Zaatar said some members of his family contacted the U.S. consulate. He said consular officials spoke with him and asked to visit his home to assess the damage and the risks he faced.
Statements on attacks in the West Bank
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described Israelis involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank as “terrorists” last August. Huckabee said these actions had seriously damaged Israel's image.
Fourteen United Nations special rapporteurs warned last June that the sharp increase in settler attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories posed an existential threat to Palestinian communities.
According to data from the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, settlers carried out 628 attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, last August.
Data on the toll in the West Bank
Following the start of the attacks in Gaza on October 8, 2023, Israeli army and settler attacks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem included killings, arrests, forced displacement, the destruction of agricultural land and home demolitions, as well as settlement expansion.
According to Palestinian authorities, 1,206 Palestinians were killed, 13,350 were injured and more than 24,600 were detained during this period. The dead included 254 children.
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