Why are Israeli settlers on a rampage in the occupied West Bank?

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been on edge for the last two days after Israeli forces shot dead four Palestinians in the town of Tal, near Nablus, during a settler incursion on their land. Two Israelis were also killed in the confrontation.

What’s happening? Last Friday, nearly 30 settlers entered Tal, next to the illegal Israeli settlement of Havat Gilad, and tried to break into two houses when residents confronted them. The settlers opened fire. A video shows a Palestinian man seizing a rifle from a settler and shooting him before soldiers shoot him dead. Three others were killed and four people wounded. Following the killing of two Israelis, the military deployed additional troops across the occupied Palestinian territory. After vowing to avenge the killings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military “is prepared to act more broadly in terrorist strongholds.” “The instructions we gave were to enter villages, search them, seize weapons and make arrests,” Netanyahu told reporters.

Which mosques were torched? Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the village council in Qusra village southeast of Nablus, said Israeli settlers torched a mosque early on Sunday, as attackers sprayed slogans in Hebrew on its walls with messages, including “Jewish revenge” and the name of one of the Israelis killed near Tal. “The village has faced repeated attacks since 2011, and these attacks have increased since the war [on Gaza],” Wadi told Reuters news agency. Palestinian officials said settlers also tried to burn a mosque near Kour, southeast of the city of Tulkarem. Farid Jiyousi, a member of the village council, said three settlers tried to set the mosque ablaze at dawn, but worshippers put out the fire.