by Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project:

(Truthout) Dozens of masked and armed Israeli settlers descended upon the Palestinian town of Jit in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, setting houses aflame and killing at least one Palestinian in what human rights advocates and the president of Israel have labeled as a pogrom.

At least 100 Israeli settlers entered the village at night, some outlets reported, burning homes and cars, shooting at Palestinians and damaging water tankers. Photo and video from the attack show the fire spread across the town, with dark plumes of smoke hanging in the air. Settlers threw a firebomb at a house while a family was inside, Haaretz reported, citing a “security source.” The family survived, but the house was damaged badly.

TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

One man, 23-year-old Mahmoud Abdel Qader Saddam, was shot and killed by settlers in the attack, and another Palestinian was critically wounded by gunfire, Palestinian health officials said. Others were wounded by stones thrown by settlers.

“They were masked, dressed in black, armed and some had knives,” Jit resident Hassan told Haaretz. “It seemed planned. They didn’t look like children, they looked like adults. When I went outside to see what was happening, they attacked me with teargas. They torched my car and smashed another one, and then they continued into the village, after attacking more cars nearby. The army arrived about an hour later, they took their time and let them do whatever they wanted.”

Israeli officials have supposedly rebuked the attack in statements. But officials did nothing to stop it as it was ongoing; so far, no arrests have been made from the attack other than one Israeli who was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting a police officer. He was released shortly after.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that the attack was a “pogrom”; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the riots by, in effect, saying that they should have been carried out by Israeli occupation forces and implying that the Palestinians in the village are terrorists.

Read More @ TheFreeThoughtProject.com