'The attack was unprecedented': Israeli settlers burn Palestinian towns

Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank overnight on Tuesday, torching buildings and cars in apparent retaliation for the killing by Hamas of four Israelis near a settlement the day before, residents and officials said.

Yaqoub Oweis, chairman of the village council of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqeya, said a large group of illegal settlers attacked while Israeli soldiers and police stood by as they burned a petrol station, orchards, a cement factory and dozens of cars.

"The attack was unprecedented and abnormal," he said.

"There was heavy gunfire but we couldn't distinguish whether it came from settlers or the soldiers because of the darkness."

Attacks were also reported in other West Bank towns and villages.

The latest round of violence, after days of relative calm, underlined the volatility of the Israeli-occupied territory, where for over a year the military has been conducting regular sweeps leading to repeated clashes with Palestinians.

Local Palestinian families said settlers cut the road, forcing them to seek refuge at a petrol station where they hid in their cars, before being forced to flee.

"The settlers attacked the town, damaged and torched homes and cars," said Mahmoud Dawoud, from the village of Al-Lubban Al-Gharbeya, who added that the settlers smashed his car and two belonging to his brother.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Not long before the attack, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, from one of the far-right parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition, called for tougher action and he repeated the call on Wednesday.

"We need a military operation, we need to flatten buildings, we need targeted killings," he told parliament. "That's how you act against terrorism."

However, other ministers played down the demand for additional measures. "There's no need for any new decisions, only adaptation of existing ones," Energy Minister Israel Katz, a member of the government Security Cabinet, told Army Radio.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestine, aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the Occupied West Bank, the besieged Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem, collapsed in 2014 and show no sign of revival.

Netanyahu's government is set on expanding illegal settlements in the Occupied West Bank and includes members who rule out a Palestinian state. Hamas, which advocates armed resistance against Israel, has been steadily expanding its operations in the Occupied West Bank.

Five Palestinians were killed and two, including a 15-year-old girl, died later of their wounds, while more than 90 were wounded in the fighting. Seven Israeli personnel were wounded.

So far this year, 174 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. At the same time, 24 Israelis and one foreigner have been killed in clashes in the Occupied West Bank, around Jerusalem and in some Israeli cities.