Armed Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles and blocked critical roads leading to the Masafer Yatta region in the southern occupied West Bank on Thursday evening, in a fresh escalation of settler violence backed by Israeli occupation forces.

According to local sources, settler mobs—many of them armed—descended on the northern entrance of Masafer Yatta, a strategic route connecting numerous Palestinian villages and hamlets in the South Hebron Hills. Under the protection of the Israeli military, the settlers blocked key roads, set tires ablaze, and physically assaulted Palestinian drivers attempting to pass.

Witnesses described scenes of chaos and fear, as Palestinians were forced to turn back or abandon their vehicles amid the road closures and attacks. “They were stopping cars, shouting, and throwing objects,” said one resident. “People were terrified—they couldn’t reach their homes.”

Despite the violent nature of the assault, no injuries were immediately reported. However, residents and human rights observers noted that such settler attacks, often coordinated and shielded by the Israeli military, are part of a broader campaign of terror aimed at displacing Palestinians from rural areas of the West Bank.

The targeted roads serve as lifelines for the isolated and impoverished communities of Masafer Yatta, where Palestinian families have long faced threats of home demolitions, land confiscation, and forced displacement as part of Israeli expansion policies.

Thursday’s assault marks yet another violation of Palestinian rights in the region, with no indication of intervention or accountability from Israeli authorities. Human rights organizations have repeatedly documented the growing impunity with which settlers carry out attacks on Palestinian civilians, often in full view—and under the protection—of the Israeli army.

The incident adds to a surge in settler violence across the West Bank in recent months, amid the broader context of Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza and systemic repression in the occupied Palestinian territories. (ILKHA)