Five Palestinians were injured, and several others arrested during attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian communities in the southern West Bank on Monday evening, including Hebron and Bethlehem.
Jihad Nuwaja, head of the local council for the village of Susya in southern Hebron, told Anadolu that “Israeli settlers stormed the Susya area and attempted to steal a herd of sheep, but young locals confronted them and prevented the theft.”
Nuwaja explained that both Israeli police and military forces arrived at the scene as the illegal settlers were attacking the residents. However, they did not intervene to stop the violence, leaving the young men unable to defend themselves for fear of being accused.
He further noted that “four residents of the area were injured and bruised, and an ambulance was not allowed to reach them. Property, including water tanks, vehicles, and houses, was damaged by stones, and several people were arrested, though the exact number is not yet known.”
The Susya area is home to around 450 Palestinians, and settlers regularly attack the community in efforts to displace its residents, according to Nuwaja.
In a separate account, Osama Makhamra, a Palestinian activist monitoring settler and Israeli military violations, stated that “around 30 Israeli settlers attacked the Susya area, near the town of Yatta, south of Hebron, and moved through the homes.”
Makhamra told Anadolu that “the settlers fired shots in the air, attacked residents, and beat them, and two citizens were arrested after being assaulted.”
South of Yatta, Makhamra reported that “settlers attacked a Palestinian home in the Ashkara area, throwing stones at the house and beating its owner, causing him bruises.”
In Bethlehem, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that a group of settlers attacked several Palestinian shepherds in the al-Bariyya area (east of the city), attempting to steal sheep. However, local residents confronted the settlers and prevented the theft.
Makhamra also reported that the Israeli military arrested three young men from the same area, despite the fact they were the victims of the attack.
Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank, where at least 937 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the onslaught on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.