Daijiworld Media Network - Ramallah
Ramallah, Sep 27: Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian town of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to vehicles and agricultural land, according to local sources and footage circulated online.
Videos verified by Al Jazeera showed fires burning in the town and two vehicles that had been torched. No injuries were reported in the latest incident.
The attack came amid a series of settler assaults in the Ramallah area. On September 26, settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles travelling along the road between Al-Mughayyir and Abu Falah, damaging one vehicle. The head of the Al-Mughayyir village council, Amin Abu Alia, told WAFA that dozens of settlers had gathered near the village entrance and released livestock to graze among homes. Israeli forces fired tear gas during the incident, with no injuries reported.
Abu Falah has also been targeted in previous attacks. In May, settlers entered the outskirts of the village, set fire to a resident's vehicle and sprayed racist slogans on the walls of homes, according to Palestinian security sources cited by WAFA. Al Jazeera also reported the May attack, saying settlers had burned a vehicle in Abu Falah during a wider wave of raids across the West Bank.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that more than 1,600 settler attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties or property damage were documented across the West Bank between January and August 2026. The attacks affected 275 Palestinian communities, averaging 6.7 incidents a day, compared with five per day in 2025.
OCHA said settler violence has affected Palestinian access to agricultural and grazing land, homes, livelihoods and essential infrastructure. In Khirbet Abu Falah in the Ramallah governorate, settlers had earlier dismantled parts of an agricultural structure and removed metal sheets from land that Palestinians reportedly had been prevented from accessing since May following the establishment of a nearby settlement outpost.
The latest violence comes as Israel prepares for its Knesset election on October 27. Israeli political parties submitted their candidate lists earlier this month, with the election campaign taking place amid continuing violence and heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank.
Al Jazeera has reported that settler attacks and settlement activity have intensified as Israel approaches the election, while OCHA has documented a continued increase in the frequency and geographical spread of settler attacks across the West Bank.