Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian wedding hall and defaced its walls with racist graffiti in the occupied West Bank town of Bidya, west of Salfit, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

According to local sources, a group of settlers infiltrated the outskirts of the town before dawn, targeting the "Flora" wedding hall. The attackers torched the venue and spray-painted inflammatory slogans, including “Death to Arabs,” on nearby walls.

The assault is the latest in a rising wave of settler violence across the occupied West Bank, where extremist Israeli settlers routinely attack Palestinian civilians and their property. Rights groups and UN agencies have long criticized the Israeli government for its failure to prosecute such crimes, which often occur in full view of Israeli forces.

Incidents of settler violence typically include arson attacks on homes and mosques, the uprooting of olive trees and crops, stone-throwing, and assaults on Palestinian families—particularly in isolated or vulnerable areas.

Currently, between 500,000 and 600,000 Israeli settlers reside in Jewish-only colonies established across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank—settlements considered illegal under international law. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Despite widespread condemnation, Israel continues to expand its settlement enterprise, further entrenching its occupation and exacerbating tensions on the ground.

Local residents in Bidya expressed outrage over the attack and called on international human rights organizations to intervene and hold the perpetrators accountable. No arrests have been reported so far. (ILKHA)