Jalud (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinian residents said Sunday that Israeli settlers torched buildings and cars in attacks on several villages in the occupied West Bank, with Israel’s army condemning “violence of any kind” after the fact.

The reported arson late Saturday came in the midst of a spate of killings of Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank since the start of the Middle East war.

AFP journalists saw the charred remains of a house and several vehicles in the village of Fandaqumiya, southwest of Jenin. In the village of Jalud, a medical centre had been torched and Hebrew graffiti daubed on the mosque.

Hassan Al-Zoubi, whose home in Fandaqumiya was destroyed, told AFP that some 200 assailants had come from the nearby settlement of Homesh.

“They set the house on fire right before our eyes using Molotov cocktails, throwing them through the windows,” Zoubi said.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA said several Palestinians were injured in the attacks.

The local Red Crescent said Sunday that ten people had been wounded by settlers in a separate attack in the village of Deir al-Hatab during the day, near Nablus, including one from a live bullet to their foot and six from physical assaults.

The Israeli army said soldiers had been “dispatched to several Palestinian villages… following reports of Israeli civilians committing acts of arson against structures and property, as well as engaging in disturbances in the area”.

“The security forces condemn violence of any kind and will continue to act to maintain the security of residents and public order in the area,” the military said in a statement.

The incidents came after the army said an Israeli civilian died Saturday when a Palestinian vehicle reportedly “hit an Israeli vehicle”.

Israeli police said they were investigating whether the incident was “terror-related”, but there was no confirmation.

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