Masked Israeli settler militants launched a fresh attack on homes on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, marking the first major incident since an earlier siege in the area this month triggered international outrage.
Witnesses said settlers encircled a Palestinian house and pelted it with stones, trapping seven Palestinians inside.
Saddam Oday, one of those caught in the home, said Israeli forces fired tear gas into the building and detained the residents, though he was later released.
He said he did not see any settlers detained, and that the group was allowed to leave the scene.
The homeowner, Luay Bayruti, said that when the military arrived, soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded those inside and beat them before eventually letting them go.
In a statement, the Israeli military said troops and border police had come to the location to remove what it called “rioters” and to protect the people inside the house.
The military did not immediately respond to questions about why it was reported to have fired tear gas into the home, or why residents said they were detained and beaten.
Residents said the Israeli military fired tear gas into a home and did not detain any of the settlers
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking publicly about Qusra for the first time, said he condemned the violence but attributed it to a “handful of rioters”.
“I strongly condemn the criminal acts of violence committed in the villages of Qusra and Jalud,” said Mr Netanyahu, referring as well to a separate incident in the nearby village.
Two weeks ago, US and Israeli officials said the United States had pressed Mr Netanyahu to issue a public condemnation of militant settlers after Palestinians were besieged in their homes.
In the past, the Israeli government has described settler violence as the work of a “fringe minority”, a claim rights groups have challenged in their own findings.
A UN inquiry in June concluded that Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Israel’s mission in Geneva rejected the report’s conclusions.
Resident reports near-daily encroachments
Mr Bayruti said he called the Israeli military for assistance, but he and six others remained trapped for more than an hour as settlers continued throwing stones.
He showed reporter his arm wrapped in bandages, saying it was hit by a stone during the attack.
Mr Oday, who works as a medic, said four of the people inside suffered injuries from tear gas, while two others were hurt by stones thrown by settlers.
Israeli settlers sit on the balcony of Palestinian homes under construction in the village of Qusra
The incident unfolded just a few hundred metres from three homes that settlers besieged earlier this month—an episode that drew international condemnation and prompted a large Israeli military deployment that residents say has effectively confined them to their houses.
“They spotted the residents working on their house, which is still under construction and they started throwing rocks,” said Loui Ridi, a Palestinian-American whose home was among the three surrounded this month.
He said he watched the latest attack from his home.
Despite the heavy military presence, Mr Ridi said settlers have pushed into the area around his home almost every day.
Settler violence on the rise
Rights groups say the growing settler presence at the edges of Palestinian villages such as Qusra reflects a broader drive to take more land from Palestinians, further shrinking territory where Palestinians seek to establish a state.
They say settler violence in the occupied West Bank has risen, with some settlers feeling emboldened under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which settlement expansion has accelerated.
UN bodies and most countries consider the settlements illegal under international law governing military occupations.
