‘He wanted to burn me alive’: 92-year-old recounts West Bank settler attack

The attack on 92-year-old Yasser Saqer Rashid in the West Bank mosque is not just an isolated act of violence—it is a brutal reminder of the escalating tensions in a region where decades of occupation have normalized brutality. While settler violence against Palestinians is not new, the brazenness of this assault—occurring in a place of worship during prayer—highlights how extreme factions in the Israeli settler movement have become emboldened under the current far-right government. The incident underscores a dangerous shift: what was once fringe vigilantism is now operating with near-impunity, fueled by political rhetoric that has delegitimized Palestinian presence in the West Bank. Few outside the region grasp the psychological toll of living under such conditions. Palestinian communities in Area C of the West Bank, where Israeli military control is absolute, face daily harassment, land confiscations, and violent incursions by settlers. Many, like Rashid, are elderly individuals who have lived through multiple wars and intifadas, only to now fear for their lives in their own homes. The fact that this attack took place in a mosque—a space meant to be sanctuary—speaks to the broader erosion of safety and dignity under occupation. The immediate question is whether this will trigger any meaningful response from either Israeli authorities or the international community. Past incidents of settler violence have often been met with either weak condemnation or outright denial, with Israeli officials frequently framing such attacks as isolated disputes over land rather than part of a systemic pattern. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority’s ability to protect its people remains severely limited, given its constrained jurisdiction and the lack of real pressure on Israel to curb settler aggression. Looking ahead, the trajectory appears grim. With far-right figures in Israel’s government openly supporting settlement expansion and Palestinian rights increasingly sidelined in diplomatic circles, the cycle of violence risks deepening. The broader trend here is one of normalization—where such attacks are not shocking anomalies but predictable outcomes of a system that prioritizes one group’s expansion over another’s survival. Until there is a fundamental reckoning with the realities of occupation, stories like Rashid’s will continue to emerge, each one a testament to a conflict where the sanctity of life is steadily eroded.