ºÃÉ«tv

Israeli police said four Israelis were arrested in what it described as “extremist violence,� while the Israeli military said four Palestinians were wounded. Police and Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency said they were investigating.

Videos on social media showed two charred trucks engulfed in flames, with a nearby building on fire. Settler violence has surged since the erupted two years ago. The attacks have as Palestinians harvest their olive trees in an annual ritual.

The U.N. humanitarian office last week reported more Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank in October than in any other month since it began keeping track in 2006. There were over 260 attacks, the office said.

Earlier on Tuesday, tens of thousands of Israelis attended the funeral of an Israeli soldier whose body had been held in Gaza for 11 years, overflowing and blocking surrounding streets as somber crowds stood with Israeli flags.

The burial of Lt. Hadar Goldin was a moment of closure for his family, which had traveled the world in a public campaign seeking his return. The huge turnout also reflected the importance of the case for the broader public in Israel, where Goldin became a household name during the struggle to bring his remains home.

Hamas as part of the Trump-brokered ceasefire deal that began last month. The bodies of taken in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, are still in Gaza.

Settler violence in the West Bank

Palestinians and human rights workers accuse the Israeli army and police of failing to halt attacks by settlers. Israel’s government is dominated by West Bank settlers, and the police force is overseen by , a hardline settler leader.

In Tuesday’s incident, the army said soldiers initially responded to settler attacks in the villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf. It said the settlers fled to a nearby industrial zone and attacked soldiers sent to the scene and damaged a military vehicle.

Palestinian official Muayyad Shaaban, who heads the government’s Commission against the Wall and Settlements, said the settlers set fire to four dairy trucks, farmland, tin shacks and tents belonging to a local Bedouin community.

He said the attacks were part of a campaign to drive Palestinians from their land and accused Israel of giving the settlers protection and immunity. He called for sanctions against groups that “sponsor and support the colonial settlement terrorism project.�

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the attacks during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris on Tuesday.

“Settler violence and the acceleration of settlement projects are reaching new heights, threatening the stability of the West Bank and constituting violations of international law,� he said.

Palestinians in Gaza still struggling to access food

On Tuesday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has risen to 69,182. Its count — generally considered by independent experts as reliable — does not distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says more than half of those killed were women and children.

Displaced Palestinians in central Gaza say they continue to rely heavily on charity kitchens for their only daily meal, as soaring market prices and the lack of income have left them struggling to afford daily living costs.

Scores of people, most of them children, lined up with empty pots at a charity kitchen in Nuseirat refugee camp on Tuesday waiting to be served rice — the only food available that day.

“The rockets and planes stopped but increasing living costs has been the hardest weapon used against us,� said Mohamed al-Naqlah, a displaced Palestinian living in Nuseirat.

The latest war began with a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, and 251 people were kidnapped.

Funeral for Israeli soldier held hostage for 11 years after his death

Goldin was 23 when he was killed two hours after a ceasefire took effect in the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. For years before the 2023 attack, posters with the faces of Goldin and Oron Shaul, another soldier whose body was abducted in the 2014 war, stared down from intersections as their families campaigned for the return of their bodies.

Israel’s military long ago determined that Goldin had been killed based on evidence found in the tunnel where his body was taken, including a blood-soaked shirt and prayer fringes. The military retrieved Shaul's body in January. On Tuesday, it announced it had dismantled the tunnel shaft where his body was found.

“Hadar, we waited for you 11 years, that’s a long time. A very long time. I honestly can’t explain how we did it,� Goldin’s mother, Leah, said as she stood next to his grave.

Eulogies from Goldin's siblings, parents, and former fiancee at his funeral never mentioned , who was also prime minister when Goldin was kidnapped and for most of the period since. They continuously thanked the Israeli military, including reserve soldiers, who tirelessly searched for Goldin’s body over the years.

Netanyahu did not attend the funeral, though Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, gave a eulogy on behalf of the military. Benny Gantz, an opposition lawmaker who was the chief of staff during Goldin's abduction, attended with former military leaders.

For years, Israel had four hostages in Gaza: Goldin, Shaul, and who had crossed into Gaza on their own and were held since 2014 and 2015.

All four were returned in the past year. In the 2014 war, over 2,200 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, and widespread damage was inflicted on Gaza’s infrastructure. Another 73 people were killed on the Israeli side during 50 days of fighting.

___

Mor reported from Kfar Saba, Israel. Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press reporters Julia Frankel and Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem, and Fatma Khaled in Cairo, contributed to this report.