2023 worst year for Israeli settler violence

Israeli settlers killed at least 10 Palestinians and torched dozens of homes in the occupied West Bank in 2023, making it the "most violent" year on record for settler attacks, an Israeli watchdog said yesterday.

Numerous West Bank attacks were carried out by a large group of Israeli settlers, and the violence spiked after Israel's October 7 offensive in Gaza Strip, said Yesh Din, a human rights group.

"At least 10 Palestinians were killed by settlers and dozens of homes and vehicles were set on fire" last year, it said.

The West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation since the 1967 Six-Day War, and tensions have escalated since the outbreak of fighting between Israel and the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers.