Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'

 Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'

Homes in Hawara are charred black alongside burned-out cars cloaked in a layer of ash. The air tastes acrid as people speak of the night their town burned.

Residents told the BBC a mob had gone on an hours-long rampage armed with iron bars and rocks before torching buildings, cars and trees.

On Sunday the Palestinian town was subjected to one of the worst cases of mass Israeli settler violence in years, hours after two settlers were shot dead by a Palestinian gunman.

"The settlers attacked our house, they smashed the windows and burned my nephew's cars and trucks. They tried to break into my car showroom and set it on fire," said Abdel Nasser al-Junaidi, speaking outside his home.

He described how he had rushed his children up to the rooftop to try to keep them safe.

"The army did nothing to protect us. It supported the settlers and protected them. The shooting was from both settlers and soldiers. We were terrified. What happened was a horrific and barbaric attack," said Mr al-Junaidi.

The scale of the damage becomes clear when you keep walking the length of this town that sits astride Route 60 - the main highway running north-south through the occupied West Bank.

FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-64757990