Israeli settlers set fire to a classroom in a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Friday, Palestinian and Israeli officials said, as the United Nations warned of worsening violence and a record number of settler attacks driving displacement across the territory.
The arson attack targeted a classroom in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus, according to Palestinian media reports. Villagers were able to extinguish the flames, and no injuries were reported as the incident occurred outside normal school hours.
Palestine’s official WAFA news agency said the fire was set at dawn and caused extensive damage. The Israeli military confirmed the arson, saying troops were dispatched to the village but failed to locate any suspects. Israeli media reported that the word “Revenge” was spray-painted on the building.
Additional attacks were reported in nearby villages, where several Palestinian vehicles were set ablaze and other property damaged, according to local sources.
The incidents came as the United Nations warned of escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric cited data from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showing a record daily average of settler attacks against Palestinians.
Dujarric said at least 20 Palestinian families had been displaced from the Ras Ein al-Auja herding community in the Jericho governorate following months of settler attacks and intimidation, including the cutting of water and electricity supplies.
In a separate statement, U.N. protection partners warned that multiple herding and Bedouin communities have been forcibly displaced under pressure from Israeli settlers, calling on member states to support remaining families, deter attacks and prevent further displacement.
OCHA documented more than 1,800 settler attacks against Palestinians in 2025 alone, resulting in casualties or property damage in about 280 communities, Dujarric said, marking the highest daily average since the agency began tracking such incidents in 2006. The U.N. reiterated its call for the protection of civilians in the West Bank.
Settler violence has surged since Oct. 7, 2023, with the U.N. reporting nearly 1,700 settler attacks last year across more than 270 locations, including assaults on agricultural land during the olive harvest.
