As the conflict between Iran and Israel brings missile fire to the skies over the occupied West Bank, Palestinians in rural communities say a more immediate threat is escalating on the ground In the northern village of Duma, residents report that the danger posed by Israeli settlers has become their primary concern, eclipsing the fear of the aerial warfare above them
"We have the rockets in the sky, but the [Israeli] settlers are at our door," said Thabet, a 24-year-old resident of Duma, whose home was near the crash site of missile debris He stated that settlers, along with the Israeli army, are what residents are currently afraid of
According to reports, Israeli settlers have been terrorising Palestinians in small hamlets across rural areas of the West Bank since the wider regional war began While international focus remains on the missile exchanges between nation-states, Palestinians are raising alarms about the deteriorating security situation within their communities, which they attribute to settlers acting under the cover of the larger conflict
Mohsin Rana
