Three Palestinians were killed and seven others wounded in what Palestinian officials are calling a violent settler assault in the West Bank village of Kafr Malik, near Ramallah, according to a statement from the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry.
The rights organization Yesh Din reported that over 100 Israeli settlers were involved in the attack, which they said occurred in the presence of Israeli soldiers.
Video footage taken from the village showed several homes and cars engulfed in flames. Eyewitnesses speaking to Palestinian news outlets said settlers also threw rocks at villagers and their property during the assault.
In a separate video, Israeli soldiers can be seen firing at Palestinians near the entrance to Kafr Malik.
“Under the auspices of government and military backing, settler violence in the West Bank continues and becomes more deadly by the day. This is what ethnic cleansing looks like,” the Yesh Din rights group says in a statement.
The IDF has not yet issued a public statement in response to inquiries about the events in Kafr Malik.
Although the IDF has remained silent so far, Israeli news outlets quoted a security official who confirmed that many settlers participated in the attack. The official said they set fire to homes and vehicles, fought with local residents, and defaced property with graffiti bearing hateful slogans.
The same security source stated that Israeli forces arrived at the scene and opened fire, though the exact circumstances of the shooting are still being examined.
The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry confirmed that three people were fatally shot during the attack.
According to the Israeli security official, the situation remains fluid and the military has not yet brought the area fully under control.

{Matzav.com}