Settler Violence Escalates: Israeli Extremists Attack Military Base in West Bank

In a rare and alarming incident, dozens of Israeli settlers launched a violent rampage at a military base in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Sunday night. According to the Israeli military, the settlers set fires, vandalized military vehicles, sprayed graffiti, and physically assaulted soldiers stationed at the base near Ramallah.

The unrest followed the arrest of several settlers involved in a deadly attack on the Palestinian town of Kfar Malik, where three Palestinians were killed and property was torched. The military intervention in that earlier incident led to the detention of five settlers, sparking outrage among extremist settler groups.

Footage aired on Israeli media showed young, religious men—many believed to be part of the radical “hilltop youth” movement—clashing with security forces. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) released images of the damage, including burned infrastructure critical to counterterrorism operations.

The attack drew rare condemnation from far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called it a “red line,” while opposition leader Yair Lapid labeled the perpetrators “Jewish terrorists” emboldened by the current governing coalition.

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to “eradicate this violence from the root,” emphasizing that many of the targeted soldiers were exhausted reservists serving multiple tours of duty.

The incident underscores growing tensions within Israeli society and the increasingly volatile situation in the West Bank, where settler violence has surged amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.