Jerusalem Day: Violence flares in West Bank day after controversial march

A number of fires, some suspected as arson, endangered Jewish settlements in Samaria and Gush Etzion, while Jews reportedly attacked Palestinians in a town near Nablus.

 A Palestinian flag is found at the scene of a fire near the Israeli settler outpost of Kumi Ori in the West Bank, on May 29, 2022. (photo credit: FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE)
A Palestinian flag is found at the scene of a fire near the Israeli settler outpost of Kumi Ori in the West Bank, on May 29, 2022.
(photo credit: FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE)

Violence was reported in the West Bank both by Jews and Palestinians on Monday, a day after violence erupted in Jerusalem after the annual Jerusalem Day flag march.

Two fires spread near the West Bank settlement Yitzhar and a number of other fires were lit, some with evidence showing they were intentional, the Fire and Rescues Service's Judea and Samaria Division said.

Firefighters are fighting the flames near Yitzhar and are working with volunteers to keep it away from the settlement itself.

Other fires were lit near the settlements Beit El, Har Bracha, Itamar, and Karmei Tzur.

A Palestinian flag was left near one of the fires.

At Karmei Tzur firefighters found a bottle with flammable material and a stone wrapped in cloth and doused in a flammable material as well.

 MASKED ISRAELIS clash with a Palestinian olive farmer from the village of Hawara near the settlement of Yitzhar in October 2020. (credit: JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)
MASKED ISRAELIS clash with a Palestinian olive farmer from the village of Hawara near the settlement of Yitzhar in October 2020. (credit: JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Settlers attack Palestinians

Earlier on Monday, Palestinian media reported that Israeli settlers had attacked a high school in the Palestinian town of Urif, south of Nablus, 

Urif is adjacent to Yitzhar, from which extremists have attacked Palestinians in the past. 

The Red Crescent later said that one person in Urif was injured by shrapnel from bullets, four suffered from cases of gas suffocation and one person was injured as a result of falling.

The reports have not been confirmed by any Israeli authority.

Spillover from violent Jerusalem Day

Some 50 people were arrested in disturbances in Jerusalem throughout Jerusalem Day on Sunday, the Israel Police said. The disturbances began at the Temple Mount, including on the route of the annual flag march, especially at the Damascus Gate, and ended in the east Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, dozens of Palestinians were injured in the violence. Four of those injured were transferred to hospitals for further treatment.

Dozens of Palestinians were also injured in clashes that broke out during the night in Sheikh Jarrah as well as in several Palestinian villages in the West Bank including Huwara, Burin and near Ramallah. 

Palestinians were seen shooting firecrackers at Israelis, while Jews attacked a Palestinian journalist.

During the night shots were fired from a vehicle at IDF soldiers on the outskirts of El-Bireh, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said. Security forces are chasing the perpetrator, the IDF said.