A rampage led by illegal settlers against the village of Duma last month has left a “trail of wreckage,” including approximately $1.3 million in damages, epitomizing the dire situation for Palestinians within all the Israeli occupied territories during the Gaza war.
The leaders of the Duma community told the Associated Press that the Israeli army, Israel Defense Forces (IDF), arrived shortly after the three-hour attack erupted but hardly intervened to stop the mayhem apart from shooting at Palestinians attempting to repulse the settlers as homes and cars were set ablaze.
According to the UN, this pogrom was just one of nearly 800 settler attacks launched against Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank since Israel’s war on Gaza was launched last year. The head of the Duma village council told the AP that at least 15 homes were damaged by arsonists and six villagers were wounded by Israeli gunfire.
The trail of destruction left along Duma’s main road, “highlight the village’s limited resources to clean up and rebuild, let alone defend itself from future incursions, which seem inevitable.”
Duma is no stranger to extreme settler violence. In 2015, Amiram Ben Uliel firebombed a Palestinian home killing three members of a family, including an 18-month old baby, and severely burned a four-year old child.