QUSRA, West Bank — The annual rate of Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians has almost quadrupled in eight years, UN figures show, buttressing assertions that Israeli security forces have largely failed to stem the so-called ‘‘price tag’’ campaign in which thugs cut down trees, deface mosques, and beat Palestinian farmers.
Israeli leaders have repeatedly denounced such attacks, and the military says soldiers are under strict orders to stop them.
Still, critics say Israeli governments stacked with pro-settler politicians have often been reluctant to confront settlers, even those seen as a hard-line fringe. ‘‘There is not enough pressure from the prime minister, the defense minister, the interior minister, to prevent this,’’ said Gadi Zohar, a former senior army commander in the West Bank.
A dramatic episode near this Palestinian farming village last week highlighted the potential of such attacks to escalate and jeopardize fragile US-led peace efforts. ‘‘Price tag’’ refers to settler attacks on Palestinians in response to army actions against any of dozens of West Bank settlement outposts.
Last week’s events began when troops uprooted olive trees planted on private Palestinian land by settlers from the Esh Kodesh outpost.
Later that day, about 20 Israelis moved toward nearby villages, including Qusra. Palestinians said the settlers damaged olive trees and were caught by villagers after a stone-throwing clash and held by them for more than two hours before being handed to the army.
Footage of the settlers surrounded by an angry crowd led the television news in Israel that day, with commentators saying serious bloodshed was averted by Palestinians who shielded the settlers.
Seven Israelis were questioned and placed under house arrest, police said. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon warned he would show zero tolerance, but Palestinians are skeptical.
So far, there have been at least two cases of vandalism in apparent response to the Qusra episode. On Wednesday, residents of a village in the area reported that the door of a mosque was set on fire and some of the carpet was burned. Graffiti read, ‘‘Blood for blood, Qusra.’’
The United States quickly condemned the vandalism.
‘‘We believe that such hateful and provocative actions against a place of worship are never justified,’’ said State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf.