Israeli Settlers Torch Homes and Cars in Violent West Bank Attacks
Al Jazeera Staff
Dozens of Israeli settlers launched attacks across the occupied West Bank, burning cars and assaulting Palestinians, including a father and his young son. The assaults, which included arson and theft, took place in multiple villages and towns. Human rights groups accuse Israeli authorities of granting settlers impunity.
Israeli settlers carried out a fresh wave of attacks in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to homes and vehicles and assaulting a Palestinian child, according to the Wafa news agency.
In the village of Khirbet Shuweika, south of Hebron, a father and his son were attacked with "sharp objects" on Friday, sustaining head injuries that required hospitalization.
The same day, settlers torched a house in the village of al-Lubban Asharqiya, south of Nablus, with Palestinian Civil Defense teams arriving to extinguish the blaze.
In Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, security sources said settlers "stormed the outskirts of the village, burned a resident's car, and painted racist slogans on the walls of homes."
In the village of al-Asa'asa in Jenin, Israeli forces compelled residents to exhume a recently buried corpse and move it elsewhere, citing that the original location was too close to an illegal Israeli settlement.
A Palestinian man in the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, was assaulted and had his mobile phone stolen.
In the Burak Sulayman (Solomon's Pools) area, south of Bethlehem, Israeli police fired stun grenades at a group of Palestinian picnickers, forcing them to leave. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said it treated two people for tear gas inhalation and evacuated five others.
In the town of Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem, Mayor Taysir Abu Mufreh reported that Israeli forces fired tear gas and sound grenades at a group of worshippers leaving a mosque, trapping many inside.
On Friday, Israeli forces arrested four Palestinian men in the town of Battir, west of Bethlehem, as they walked near the train tracks. The following day, three others were arrested during a raid on the city of Nablus.
In the town of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah, settler attacks sparked clashes as local residents confronted them.
Human rights groups say the Israeli authorities have allowed settlers to operate with impunity in attacks against Palestinians. In February, Israel approved plans to declare large areas of the West Bank as "state land." More than 700,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
