Israeli settlers torch West Bank site

Israeli settlers on Monday rampaged through a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, torching homes and cars in the latest in a string of settler attacks in recent weeks. The violence drew a rare condemnation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top leaders.

- BY MELANIE LIDMAN AND SAM METZ

Israel's military said soldiers and police were sent to al-Jab'a, a small village southwest of Bethlehem, after reports of fires and vandalism. The attack came hours after clashes between Israeli security forces and settlers defending an unauthorized outpost on a nearby hill facing evacuation and demolition on Monday, according to COGAT, the Israeli military body that deals with civilians in the West Bank.

Israeli police said earlier that six suspects were arrested in confrontations during the demolitions, where dozens of Israeli settlers were entrenched and hundreds rioted, throwing stones and metal bars and burning tires.

The Monday night attack in al-Jab'a was the latest in a growing wave of settler violence to hit West Bank villages, which has surged this fall as Palestinians take part in their annual olive harvest. Violence carried out by settlers and Palestinian militants have both spiked as the Israeli military has stepped up operations in the occupied West Bank since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war.

The UN humanitarian office said last week it had recorded 167 incidents across 87 communities related to the harvest, on top of 2,660 settler attacks documented this year through the end of September. Fourteen Palestinians and six Israelis have been killed during the uptick in violence across the territory.

'A handful of extremists'

Netanyahu called the settlers "a handful of extremists" and urged law enforcement to pursue them for "the attempt to take the law into their own hands.'

"I intend to deal with this personally, and convene the relevant ministers as soon as possible to provide a response to this serious phenomenon," he said in a statement.

Netanyahu's denunciation came at the outset of a busy week of diplomacy for Israel and after U.S. officials warned violence in the West Bank could undermine the month-old ceasefire in Gaza.