Settlers and Palestinians clash in West Bank village

Dozens of Israeli settlers and Palestinians clashed Friday in the occupied West Bank village of Sinjil, where a march against recent settler attacks on nearby farmland was due to take place.

AFP journalists saw local residents and activists begin their march before locals reported that settlers had appeared on a hill belonging to the village.

Palestinian youths marched towards the hill to drive away the settlers, setting a fire at its base while the settlers threw rocks from the high ground.

Local Palestinians told AFP that settlers also started a fire.

Several Israeli military jeeps arrived at the scene and soldiers fired a few shots in the air, causing Palestinians to withdraw back to the village.

Anwar al-Ghafri, a lawyer and member of Sinjil's city council, told AFP that such incidents are not new, but have intensified in recent days in the area, just north of the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"A group of settlers, with support and approval from the Israeli army, are carrying out organised attacks on citizens' land," he told AFP.

"They assault farmers, destroy crops, and prevent people from reaching or trying to reach their land," he said, describing the events that had prompted Friday's march.

The settlers involved in Friday's clashes could not be reached for comment.

Fence erected

Israeli authorities recently erected a high fence cutting off parts of Sinjil from Road 60, which runs through the entire West Bank from north to south, and which both settlers and Palestinians use.

Mohammad Asfour, a 52-year-old resident, told AFP that the fence was isolating his community, like other Palestinian cities and towns that recently had gates erected by Israel to control access to the outside.

"Sinjil is suffering greatly because of this wall. My house is near it, and so are my brothers' homes. The settler has the right to come to Sinjil -- but the sons of Sinjil aren't allowed to climb up this hill," Asfour said.

Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack of October 2023 triggered the Gaza war.

Since then, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 947 Palestinians, including many militants, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Over the same period, at least 35 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli figures.