At least 20 Palestinians are injured after settlers, i.e. Jewish extremists living in settlements built illegally on Palestinian land, carried out acts of violence across the occupied West Bank under the strict protection of the Israeli army.

The facts concern Friday, when the settlers stormed the city of Dayr Dibwan, which is located east of Ramallah, according to reports from the official Wafa news agency. The settlers "set fire to the entrance [of Dayr Dibwan], but local youths, who were on high alert, bravely confronted them, forcing them to retreat,” the agency reported. The casualties were caused when Israeli troops, accompanying the attackers, attacked Palestinians with live ammunition and tear gas."

Elsewhere in the Ramallah district, a few dozen settlers, under army protection, gathered at the western entrance to the village of Beitin, near the town of al-Bireh, and stoned vehicles Palestinians passing nearby, causing them damage,” the agency added. Another group of settlers threw stones at Palestinian-owned vehicles in al-Fahs area, south of al-Khalil city (Hebron) in southern West Bank, smashing their windshields.

The developments came a day after a group of settlers stormed the village of Urif south of the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank. The attackers then forced their way into a local mosque and vandalized it before ripping out pages from a copy of the Holy Quran and throwing it into the street. The act of desecration sparked outrage far and wide in the Muslim world .