“Israeli civilians entered the village of Beit Furik” east of the Palestinian city of Nablus, the Israeli army said, adding that they “set property on fire, and hurled stones”. Local authorities told AFP the attacks took place early on Wednesday morning.

The army said that the settlers reacted after Israeli forces “acted against illegal construction by Israeli civilians adjacent to the town of Beit Furik” on Tuesday night, triggering clashes during which the settlers injured two policemen with stones.

Nahi Hanani, deputy head of the Beit Furik council, told AFP that dozens of settlers attacked the village “setting fire to a truck in front of one house and another vehicle”, early on Wednesday. “They also set fire to a grocery shop in the village and another house was slightly damaged,” he said.

The army said the Israelis also “set property on fire and threw stones” in Huwara, a town to the south of Nablus.

Rana Abu Hania, spokeswoman for Huwara’s town hall, confirmed to AFP that one resident was injured when settlers attacked the town early on Wednesday. “They burned two cars and the house of one citizen… The army also demolished a used car lot,” said Abu Hania.

Yusef Awadi, a resident of Huwara, told AFP that settlers burned his brother’s house Wednesday morning. “They set fire to the Jeep and to the car outside… They entered the house, set it on fire, and then left,” the 66-year-old said, adding that his brother Tayseer was hospitalised. “He was hit on the head and… was transferred to Rafidia Hospital,” Awadi told AFP, adding that had his brother’s family not been awake, “they would have all burned with the house.”

In a joint statement, the Israeli army and police said that eight suspects were arrested in the investigation into the Beit Furik and Huwara attacks, “for assaulting security forces, engaging in friction, and causing damage to property”. The army said that there were also clashes between the Israeli army and “about 20 Israelis” in Rujeib, a town closer to Nablus, on Tuesday evening.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 788 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry. Palestinian attacks on Israelis have also killed at least 24 people in the West Bank in the same period, according to Israeli official figures.