CNN :
An assault by dozens of Israeli settlers has devastated a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, drawing blistering condemnation from top Israeli officials.
More than 70 armed settlers invaded the town of Jit on Thursday, firing bullets and tear gas at residents and setting several homes and cars and other property on fire, according to the head of Jit’s village council, Nasser Sedda.
Sedda said his cousin, Rashid Sedda, was killed in the attack. The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health confirmed the 23-year-old Palestinian died after sustaining a chest injury.
“We have attacks but nothing to this level,” Sedda told CNN. “We haven’t seen anything like this before, and without a prior warning. They caught the people off guard – women, children, and elders were there.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said dozens of Israeli citizens, some masked, set fires and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails before being dispersed by Israeli security forces.
One person has been apprehended for questioning over the rioting, and authorities are looking into the death of the Palestinian resident, the IDF said, without naming the resident.
It is launching a joint investigation into the attack with security agency ISA and Israeli Police.
Militant group Hamas on Friday called on Palestinians in the West Bank to “rise up against the crimes of the occupation and to confront the terrorist attacks of settlers” after the raid.
“The policy of raids, assassinations, and unleashing herds of settlers will only increase our people’s devotion to their land and sanctities,” it said in a statement.
Videos of the attack on Jit showed vehicles on fire and flames on the ground floor of a two-story building. Another video shows three medics performing CPR on Rashid Sedda.
Residents of the town can be seen running toward the burning vehicles and putting out the flames with a fire extinguisher, while someone shouts, “The settlers attacked us and set fire to the cars.”