Israeli settlers forcibly entered a Palestinian home in the southern part of the occupied West Bank overnight, killing livestock and injuring children in the latest attack amid a surge of settler violence, Palestinian officials said on Tuesday.
Israeli police said five settlers were arrested over the incident.
According to Amir Dawood, an official with the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, settlers broke into a house in the town of As Samu', killed three sheep, injured four others, smashed doors and windows and released tear gas inside the home. He said three Palestinian children under the age of four were taken to hospital after being affected by the gas.
Police said the suspects were arrested on suspicion of trespassing on Palestinian land, damaging property and using pepper spray, adding that an investigation is under way.
CCTV footage shared by the Palestinian commission showed masked settlers approaching and entering the house, with sounds of smashing and animals heard in the background. Separate video clips appeared to show sheep being beaten inside a stable.
Photographs released after the attack showed shattered car windows, a broken front door and dead sheep lying in pools of blood, while the interior of the house was left ransacked with broken glass scattered across rooms.
Dawood said the same family had been targeted by settlers once before in less than two months, describing the incident as part of a continuing pattern of violence against Palestinians, their property and livelihoods.
Settler attacks have risen sharply in recent months. During the October olive harvest, the United Nations recorded an average of eight attacks a day, the highest level since monitoring began in 2006. At least 136 further attacks were documented by Nov 24.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 war. More than 500,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank, alongside over 200,000 in east Jerusalem.
Israel’s current government includes prominent supporters of the settler movement. Earlier this week, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the cabinet had approved plans for 19 new Jewish settlements, a move widely seen as further undermining prospects for a future Palestinian state.