'Brutal attack': Israeli settlers torch Palestinian properties in Ramallah

Illegal Israeli settlers have attacked and torched Palestinian properties on the outskirts of Ramallah, residents said, in one of their boldest raids yet in the area that serves as the Palestinians' seat of government in the occupied West Bank.

Around a dozen attackers, masked and carrying petrol bombs, targeted the Al-Bireh area, which adjoins Ramallah, at around 0100 GMT on Monday, torching the Palestinians in a matter of minutes, they said.

Resident Ihab al-Zaben said he yelled at the settlers but they carried on burning the vehicles regardless.

"When we came down to try to extinguish the fire, they started shooting at us," he said.

The facade of a residential building was left blackened by fires set in cars parked outside.

Jewish settler violence against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank has drawn condemnation internationally and led to sanctions on violent settlers by some governments, notably the United States, which has urged Israel to do more to stop the attacks.

The Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah, condemned "the brutal attack by settler militias".

Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for "comprehensive sanctions targeting the entire settler-colonial system".

Settler violence on rise

Hamas official Abdul Rahman Shadid said the attack represented an escalation by illegal settlers and required "escalating the confrontation and confronting these crimes", a statement by the Palestinian resistance group said.

Israel has settled the occupied West Bank since occupying it during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Palestinians say the settlements have undermined the prospects for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Settler violence had been on the rise before the eruption of the Gaza war and has worsened since Israel's war on Gaza began just over a year ago.

In an interview with Reuters last week, a leader of the settler community expressed confidence that Donald Trump, if he wins the US presidential election, will lift what the settlers see as the "illegitimate sanctions" imposed over attacks on Palestinians.

Most countries deem the settlements illegal under international law.