In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces arrested at least seven Palestinians earlier today during raids on Bethlehem and the Jalazone refugee camp. They also searched Palestinian homes in Nablus. The raids came as Israeli settlers carried out major arson attacks on Palestinian villages near Bethlehem and Hebron. This is Ali Abu Loha, a resident of the village of al-Jaba whose family fled the violence.

Ali Abu Laha: “We were at home when we heard banging. I went outside and saw masked men throwing rocks toward the house after they had broken the car window. We got scared, so we left, and it turned out they were settlers. They ran away from the street after they burned that car over there, my uncle’s car and my other uncle’s car, as well. They also burned two cars that belonged to my cousin.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare public rebuke of the settlers behind the attack. Netanyahu blamed a “small extremist group” for the violence. That’s despite his consistent support for the expansion of illegal settlements and his push to formally annex the West Bank. In October alone, the United Nations documented more than 260 settler attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties or damage to property in the West Bank. That’s the highest monthly toll since the U.N. began monitoring settler violence in 2006.