TULKAREM, West Bank /PNN/

Groups of Israeli settlers launched large-scale attacks Tuesday evening on industrial and agricultural areas near the town of Beit Lid, east of Tulkarem, setting fires and injuring several Palestinians, local officials said.

Witnesses told Journalists that settlers set fire to multiple Palestinian vehicles in the Al-Lada’in industrial zone, including four trucks belonging to the Al-Juneidi Dairy Factory, causing extensive damage to the site.

The assault also spread to nearby farmland, metal structures and tents belonging to a Bedouin community of several families. Settlers hurled stones at residents who tried to defend their property, injuring at least two people with head wounds, the witnesses said.

Large numbers of Israeli soldiers entered the area to protect the settlers and chased away Palestinians who attempted to confront the attack, according to the same sources.

Palestinian civil defense and ambulance crews arrived at the scene to extinguish the flames and treat the wounded as tensions remained high overnight.

The incident follows a rise in settler attacks across the Tulkarem governorate, which local residents say often occur under the protection of Israeli forces.

In response, Tulkarem Governor Abdullah Kmeil called for the formation of local patrol committees composed of residents and Palestinian Authority employees to help safeguard their communities.

Kmeil urged the international community and human rights organizations to act to stop what he described as “crimes against civilians,” noting that repeated settler assaults — including arson attacks, vandalism, and the destruction of olive trees — have become a persistent threat to Palestinians throughout the occupied West Bank.