Israeli Settlers Torch Fields Near West Bank Christian Village of Taybeh

Israeli settlers set fire to agricultural fields near the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank, the latest in a surge of settler violence that has displaced communities and killed over 1,100 Palestinians since October 2023.

Settler Arson Hits West Bank Christian Village

Israeli settlers attacked farmland belonging to the historic Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh, east of Ramallah, setting fields ablaze as part of a continuing wave of settler violence across the occupied West Bank. [1] Palestinian media and local sources said groups of settlers entered the area around Taybeh on Tuesday evening and set fire to agricultural land on the village's outskirts, in the central highlands of the occupied West Bank. [1] No injuries were reported. [1] The attack targeted one of the last entirely Christian Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, which has a population of about 1,340 people, amplifying fears among residents over repeated settler incursions and land seizures in recent months. [1] Residents reported that fires spread across fields near the village before being brought under control, amid concerns that the attacks were meant to pressure villagers to leave and to facilitate settlement expansion in the area. [1] Speaking to The New Arab, the general supervisor of the Al-Baydar human rights organisation, Fares Malihat, described the incident as part of a pattern of swelling Israeli settler violence. [1] Taybeh has previously come under attack from settlers, including assaults on homes and religious sites like the historic al-Khader Church. [1] Earlier in June, Israeli soldiers attempted to halt preparations for a Marian festival in the Christian town, which prompted church leaders to raise the alarm over growing pressure on Christian communities in the area. [1] Church leaders and local officials from Taybeh have appealed to the international community to monitor the situation and to pressure Israel to rein in settlers and halt the establishment of new outposts around Palestinian population centres. [1] The attacks do not distinguish between Muslims and Christians. The occupiers want the land without its people, Taybeh mayor told Anadolu. [5]

Pattern of West Bank Settler Violence

The incident comes amid a broader surge in Israeli settler assaults on Palestinian towns and villages across the West Bank, often carried out under the protection or in the presence of Israeli forces. [1] Malihat also noted that Israeli occupation forces moved new caravans to the settlement outpost established on the summit of Mount Ebal in the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, warning that such moves entrench new facts on the ground and further undermine Palestinian rights. [1] Al-Baydar and other rights groups say the expansion of settlement outposts, including through the installation of caravans, is closely tied to attacks on nearby Palestinian communities, who face land confiscation, movement restrictions and repeated harassment by settlers. [1] Israeli soldiers and settler attacks have killed at least 1,169 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, with military raids leading to the arrest of more than 23,000 people since then. [1]

Israeli settlers set fire to agricultural fields near the West Bank village of Taybeh. — Source: bbc

Amnesty Report on Ethnic Cleansing of Bedouin

An Amnesty International report has called attention to Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign against Bedouin and herding communities in the occupied West Bank. [4] Israeli authorities are accelerating annexation through a state-driven campaign of ethnic cleansing targeting Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities, said the report released on Wednesday. [4] Amnesty said its research showed that 27 Bedouin and herding communities comprising hundreds of Palestinians were forcibly displaced between 2023 and 2025 or were at risk of displacement in the West Bank’s Area C, which encompasses 60 percent of the territory and is under Israeli control under the Oslo agreements. [4] In the report, titled "Erasing anything Palestinian: Israel's ethnic cleansing of West Bank Bedouin and herding communities", Amnesty accused Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government of catering to the settler movement's religious nationalist agenda. [4] It has accelerated settlement expansion and land grabs, increased financial and logistical support to settlements, and it has armed settlers, thereby enabling a brutal state-sanctioned campaign of settler violence, the report said. [4] The ethnic cleansing campaign is state-led, and state-sponsored, not driven by rogue settlers or so-called extremist ministers, the report concluded. [4]

Rebels Lose Ground in Myanmar Civil War

The reality is that, despite the reluctance of these four unwilling recruits, the military's forced conscription policy has shifted the junta's fortunes in the civil war. [2] In many parts of the country, the rebels are now on the back foot against the military, who seized power in 2021 from the democratically elected government, jailing its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. [2] Civil war has torn the country apart. [2] Thousands have been killed and millions displaced. [2] More than two years ago, an alliance of ethnic and rebel groups made sweeping gains throughout the country, notching up a string of victories against the junta. [2] Once on the offensive, in most places across Myanmar the resistance is now on the defensive. [2] The military still only fully controls less than half the country, but it has been making gains - including key townships and retaking a critical road from Mandalay to Myitkyina in the north. [2] Thousands of soldiers are advancing in an attempt to re-establish control of several border areas including Kachin, Chin and Karen states. [2] Military forced conscription became the main challenging factor for us on the battlefield as it enabled the military with limitless manpower, Ko Kaung, a PDF battalion commander, explains. [2] For us, despite having technology and intellectual advantages, our resources are very constrained. [2] With limited funds, we cannot source required components as much as we want and cannot recruit new soldiers as easily as the military. [2] It is not just the conscripts, though. [2] Da Wa says tactics have changed and that, since the junta signed a security pact with Russia, it has more air power too. [2] We see pairs of aircraft now, before it would be a single fixed wing. [2] He says the junta now also has the edge both in terms of technology and in terms of quantity when it comes to drones. [2] Added to all this, there are the ceasefires that China - which has invested billions in Myanmar and is mining rare earth minerals in Karen and Kachin states - has brokered with several rebel groups, while also throttling the supplies of weapons and ammunition to resistance forces. [2] Myanmar is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world - with 745 people killed or injured by landmines, a quarter of them children, last year alone. [2]

Hamas Seeks Gaza Link to Regional Ceasefire Deals

Hamas's recent effort to include Gaza in any regional ceasefire agreement has sparked debate about whether regional shifts could end Israel's ongoing genocide. [3] On Tuesday, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said that the movement is working to include Gaza in regional ceasefire agreements. [3] Qassem said that developments in Gaza are linked to regional tensions involving Iran, Israel, and Lebanon. [3] According to Qassem, Iranian and Yemeni officials have conveyed messages indicating support for efforts to halt fighting across multiple fronts, including Gaza. [3] Qassem's statements reflect Hamas's view that regional conflicts are linked, and any settlement will address Gaza and other flashpoints. [3] However, the remarks come as Israel continues attacking the besieged coastal enclave during ongoing negotiations and despite a ceasefire brokered in October 2025. [3] According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 978 Palestinians have been killed and 3,097 wounded since the October 2025 ceasefire. [3] Since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 72,988 Palestinians and wounded 173,205. [3] Many Palestinians in Gaza doubt regional agreements will bring relief, despite support for initiatives ending the war, due to past experiences. [3] Ahmed Abu Aoun, 48, who was displaced from Gaza City, told The New Arab that residents had repeatedly heard promises that Gaza would benefit from regional developments, only to see little change in reality. [3] Throughout the war, we heard a lot about the unity of fronts and about different parties acting in support of Gaza, but what happened on the ground was completely different, he said. [3] For over two and a half years, killing, destruction, and displacement continued. [3] Residents are understandably sceptical of new political statements linking Gaza to regional agreements, he added. [3] Amal Hijazi, 39, echoed similar concerns, arguing that years of war have fundamentally changed how residents react to political announcements. [3] We hope this time will be different, but previous experiences make people very cautious, she told TNA. [3] She pointed to regional negotiations that focused on reducing tensions elsewhere while Gaza remained under attack. [3] When understandings were being reached regarding Lebanon, the priority was stopping escalation there, while Gaza continued to be bombed, she said. [3] That is why many people are asking why the outcome would be different this time. [3] For Mohammed Madi, 56, from Deir al-Balah, the issue is not whether regional actors express solidarity with Gaza, but whether those efforts yield concrete results. [3] People do not need more statements of support. They need the war to end, he told TNA. [3] Gaza-based Palestinian analyst Mustafa Ibrahim told TNA that Hamas's stance aims to prevent Gaza's isolation amid rising Iran-Israel tensions. [3] The movement understands that including Gaza in broader agreements could create additional political momentum and increase pressure on Israel to move towards a ceasefire, he added. [3] Yet Ibrahim argued that the primary obstacle remains Israel's position. [3] According to him, recent assessments emerging from Israel's military and security establishment indicate continued support for maintaining pressure on Hamas rather than ending the conflict. [3] Israeli military institutions do not see the war as over, Ibrahim said. [3] They keep seeking ways to meet their initial goals through military actions, sieges, or control of humanitarian aid. [3]

Human Cost and International Appeals

Israeli soldiers and settler attacks have killed at least 1,169 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, with military raids leading to the arrest of more than 23,000 people since then. [1] The four young men in the rebel camp hidden deep in jungle-covered mountains never wanted a part in Myanmar's civil war. [2] They didn't choose to be soldiers for the military either. [2] One had been a chef on his way home from work when he was grabbed off the street. [2] His lack of ID was enough for the military to detain him and force him to sign up. [2] Another was taken on his way back from a late-night karaoke session; a third had been working for the forestry department when he was arrested. [2] The fourth man says on being arrested, drugs were slipped into his shoe, and he was framed and made to enlist. [2] Before we even understood what was happening, we were sent straight to the front lines, one of the men – all between the ages of 19 and 25 – tells the BBC. [2] They made us do all kinds of things we didn't want to do, another adds. [2] We never got any real rest, not in the morning, not during the day, and not even at night. [2] The conscripts had to do everything. While the regular soldiers hardly had to work. [2] Kyar Soe, a platoon commander injured during a battle, says as he shows off a video of a recent fight. [2] In it he can be heard shouting to one overly enthusiastic fighter, who is firing at junta positions, save your bullets, easy, easy!. [2] Everyone is willing to fight so far, he tells me from his hospital bed in a clinic hidden deep in the jungle. [2] But there are still many weaknesses in some places, like we have major shortages when it comes to weapons and ammunition. [2] Hours earlier, we had watched as a doctor's drill bore deep into his right leg, as surgeons tried to rebuild it with metal brackets and pins. [2] Kyar Soe had stepped on a landmine. [2] Most of his right heel was gone, and this was the second operation he had undergone. [2] But still, when I speak to him afterwards, his heavily bandaged leg throbbing, he is determined. [2] I'll return to the fight, he says. [2] One way or another I'll fight until the very end as turning back home is no longer an option for me any more. [2] According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 978 Palestinians have been killed and 3,097 wounded since the October 2025 ceasefire. [3] Since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 72,988 Palestinians and wounded 173,205. [3]

What to watch next: Church leaders and local officials from Taybeh have appealed to the international community to monitor the situation and to pressure Israel to rein in settlers and halt the establishment of new outposts around Palestinian population centres, while residents in Gaza await whether regional diplomacy yields concrete results beyond past unfulfilled promises.