Scattered among the debris in the charred living room of Samer al-Amar’s home on the edge of the village of Deir al-Hatab on Monday were books used to prepare for the Palestinian matriculation exam.

On Sunday night, al-Amar’s daughter had been using the books to study for the upcoming tests. Then the settlers showed up.

“My daughter was studying in a room closer to the outside. She came into my room and told me they were throwing stones at the house,” al-Amar told The Times of Israel.

Al-Amar stepped into the yard and immediately saw that his property was surrounded.

“We shut the door,” al-Amar recalled. “They threw Molotov cocktails and poured fuel so that we would die inside the house.”

The family, including al-Amar’s wife and their four children aged 15 to 24, ran to the roof, which he said was “the only way out.” As people from the nearby village arrived to help the family, the settlers fled and the family managed to escape unharmed.

But the house suffered extensive damage and al-Amar’s car was completely destroyed.

The arson attack was one of dozens of settler assaults to take place in the wake of the death of an Israeli teen in a road collision Saturday, a widespread outbreak of Jewish terrorism that has left several people hospitalized and homes and businesses ransacked across much of the West Bank.

On Monday, the military responded to the violence and international criticism of its failure to crack down on extremists by announcing that it was redeploying a battalion from fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon to the West Bank.

Critics note that Israel’s security forces can be part of the problem, sometimes either taking part in the attacks or standing by without interfering as they unfold.

The violence began Saturday night following the death of Yehuda Sherman, an 18-year-old settler activist who had been riding an ATV near the illegal outpost where he lived outside Jenin.

Much of the incident remains under dispute, but what is clear is that Sherman was killed when his ATV collided with a vehicle being driven by a Palestinian, in a part of the West Bank that is supposed to be off limits to Israelis. The Palestinian driver and Sherman’s brother, who had also been on the ATV, were injured.

Police initially classified the incident as a traffic accident, but the army and police later said they were examining the possibility that the Palestinian driver had deliberately rammed the ATV. In response to a query from The Times of Israel, police said the investigation is ongoing.

Even before then, settlers — some reportedly close to Sherman and his family — had claimed it was a terror attack, as did far-right leaders from the Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties.

Calls for revenge spread quickly, and within hours, Palestinians in a number of towns and villages were under attack.

On his X account, far-right settler activist Elisha Yered urged supporters to gather on Route 60, the main highway traversing the West Bank, used by both Israelis and Palestinians.

“We’re out to ensure the enemy does not continue to travel freely on the roads and endanger us all,” he wrote, adding “Jews, revenge!”

About half an hour later, he tweeted again: “Silence is filth. It is forbidden to stay at home.”

That night, numerous villages in the northern West Bank, particularly in the Jenin and Nablus areas, were attacked by settlers.

A security source who spoke with The Times of Israel said there were some 20 separate incidents of nationalist-motivated attacks against Palestinians on the night of  March 21-22, including arson and stone-throwing.

Cars and buildings were set on fire, and stones were hurled in Jalud and Qaryut near Nablus, as well as in al-Funduqiya and Silat al-Zaher in the Jenin area.

Near the settlement of Shiloh, settlers threw stones at an ambulance, and near Hebron, they set up roadblocks, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The Red Crescent said a total of nine people were injured in assaults, though there were no direct casualties from the arson attacks.

In Jalud, settlers burned five vehicles and the village clinic, and also attempted to set homes on fire. Four people were injured — three from stone-throwing and one from smoke inhalation caused by the arson.

“Jalud is a small village with no more than a thousand residents,” Mayor Raed al-Hajj Muhammad told The Times of Israel. “The number of settlers who attacked that night — between 200 and 300 — was greater than the number of young men in the village. It is clear there is very great fear.”

In at least some of the attacks, graffiti was left with slogans referring to revenge for Sherman, including in Jalud, where a mosque was reportedly daubed with “Revenge Yehuda.”

The violence bled into Sunday as well, with reports of settler attacks on Palestinian motorists in the northern West Bank.

Ahead of Sherman’s funeral, WhatsApp groups associated with settlers circulated messages urging people to gather at junctions while he was being laid to rest.

The gatherings were intended “to demand revenge and the expulsion of the enemy,” a message read.

That night, settler extremists largely focused on Deir al-Hatab, a village located near Elon Moreh, where Sherman’s funeral had taken place. According to residents, despite a recent rise in settler violence in recent years, the village had not previously been targeted.

Village head Abd al-Karim Hassan said that two homes were completely burned down and three others partially set ablaze. Fourteen residents required treatment at hospitals and two remained hospitalized as of Tuesday, including one listed in moderate condition after being beaten.

A WhatsApp channel associated with extremist settlers later reported: “We do not remain silent over the murder of Jews! After Yehuda Sherman’s funeral, Arabs report that dozens of Jews raided the village of Deir al-Hatab.”

No security, much fear

Hassan told The Times of Israel that Israeli authorities did not act to prevent the attacks. Soldiers only showed up after the violence had ended, driving through the village in two Jeeps for about half an hour before leaving, he said.

In response to a query from The Times of Israel, the army and police said jointly that upon arriving in the village, “forces acted to restore order and conducted searches for suspects. During these operations, a vehicle that raised suspicion near the village of Deir al-Hatab was inspected. Weapons used in the attacks were located and confiscated. Five civilians were detained by Border Police forces in the West Bank and transferred to the police for further investigation.”

All five suspects were released the following day to three days of house arrest and were barred from approaching within one kilometer of the village for a month.

Residents of Jalud, which was attacked on the first night, likewise said the army and police did not help stop the violence. Muhammad, the mayor, told The Times of Israel that while in past incidents police had arrived and questioned residents about attacks, during the assault Saturday night, neither the army nor police came at all.

“We have filed hundreds of complaints against settlers with the police in recent years, but no action is taken against them,” Muhammad said.

In recent years, settler attacks on Palestinians have grown more common and more severe, according to Palestinians and Israeli activists, who charge that far-right extremists in the government are emboldening the assailants and preventing action from being taken against them.

Over the last three weeks, with attention on the war with Iran, they appear to have gotten even worse.

The rights group Yesh Din reported that there were 170 separate incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank in the first 17 days following the start of the conflict on February 28. According to the organization, the incidents occurred in 85 different Palestinian communities and included shootings, physical assaults, property damage and threats.

According to B’Tselem, six Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by armed settlers since the war began. Another four were killed by police who opened fire on a family as they returned by car from a shopping trip during an arrest raid.

“The only ones who can save us are the Israeli government, but unfortunately, there are ministers like [Religious Zionism head Bezalel] Smotrich and [Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar] Ben Gvir who support [the attackers] and encourage them,” said Muhammad.

Residents of the attacked villages described widespread fear that the brazen assaults would continue.

Mahmoud Hajj Muhammad told The Times of Israel that he had not left his home in Jalud for work in the nearby town of Qabalan this week, fearing he would be assaulted by settlers.

Muhammad, the Jalud mayor, was more optimistic.

“We know there are people in Israel who want peace and oppose these actions,” he said. “We hope they will play a role in pressuring the Israeli security forces to set limits on settler attacks against the villages.”

Others are not convinced. Hassan said he believed the next attack on Deir al-Hatab was only a matter of time. Residents of the village with homes closer to nearby settlements were staying in other areas out of fear they would be the first targeted when settlers return.

Among them are al-Amar’s daughters, who are staying with relatives in the center of the village. He said they had refused to return to the burned house, and the family remained deeply frightened.

“Who will protect us?” he asked. “Only God.”

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