TEL AVIV: Israeli settlers have rampaged through a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, torching homes and cars in the latest in a string of settler attacks in recent weeks. The violence drew a rare condemnation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top leaders.
Israel’s military said soldiers and police were sent to Al-Jaba, a small village southwest of Bethlehem, after reports of fires and vandalism. 
The attack came hours after clashes between Israeli security forces and settlers defending an unauthorized outpost on a nearby hill facing evacuation and demolition.
Israeli police said earlier that six suspects were arrested in confrontations during the demolitions, where dozens of Israeli settlers were entrenched and hundreds rioted.
The Monday night attack in Al-Jaba was the latest in a growing wave of settler violence to hit West Bank villages, which has surged this fall as Palestinians take part in their annual olive harvest. 
The UN Humanitarian office reported that October saw the highest number of Israeli settler attacks since tracking began with more than 260 incidents causing injuries or property damage. 
That’s on top of 2,660 settler attacks documented this year through the end of September. Six hundred ninety Palestinians and 38 Israelis have been killed this year during the uptick in violence across the territory.
Meanwhile, flooding has added yet another layer to the humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza. The UN humanitarian office said 13,000 families were affected by the rain that began late last week.
Abdallah Abu Quta, displaced to a tent with his family, called the suffering indescribable.
“All night, we and the children were awake, shivering from the cold. We made a channel in the ground to drain the water out,” he said on Sunday. Israel sweeping military offensive has throughout the war killed more than 69,000 Palestinians in the coastal enclave, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.