Armed Israeli settlers assault Palestinian families in West Bank as kidnapping resumes

A group of armed Israeli settlers have attacked and injured Palestinian families in a village in the occupied West Bank, local Palestinian media reports say. 

Palestinian media reports on Sunday said that the latest act of violence took place in Jibiya village, north of Palestinian city of Ramallah, on Saturday afternoon.

The hard-line settlers pointed guns at and physically assaulted Sheikh Mohamed, his children and wife as well as other families who were having a picnic in the area. 

The eyewitnesses said the settlers robbed items from the families and snatched their cell phones and other belongings away.

Israeli settlers have pressed ahead with their acts of vandalism and violence, known as price tag attacks, against Palestinians and their property as well as Muslim holy sites.

According to human rights groups, incidents of sabotage and violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians and their property are a daily occurrence throughout the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli settlers also launch attacks on Palestinian homes, set their cars on fire, vandalized their property, and uproot their olive trees and other crops as well as sealing their livestock.

The Israeli rights group B’Tselem earlier this year said the Israeli settlers had noticeably escalated attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in April despite restriction of movement and lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Israeli settlers attacks against Palestinians rise 'noticeably,' rights group says

B’Tselem says the attacks in the occupied West Bank noticeably rose in April.

Back in July 2015, a large fire broke out after the settlers threw firebombs and Molotov cocktails into two Palestinian houses in the West Bank town of Duma, setting them ablaze while their inhabitants were asleep.

The arson attack killed 18-month-old baby Ali Dawabsheh, and critically wounded his father and mother, Sa’ad and Riham, who later succumbed to their injuries. Ali’s four-year-old brother, Ahmad, who was also wounded in the assault, remained the sole survivor of the ill-fated family.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

For years, Israel has clearly allowed its settlers to assault Palestinians and inflict damage on their property as one of its policies. This has included provision of military protection for the attackers, and in some cases troopers' active participation in the assault.

Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian mosque in fresh price tag attack

A group of Israeli settlers torch a mosque in the central part of the occupied West Bank.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

Israeli forces kidnap more Palestinians across West Bank 

In a separate development on Saturday night, Israeli forces kidnapped a number of Palestinians in a series of raids across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds. 

The abductees include at least three Palestinian minors in Jenin and another one in Jerusalem al-Quds. 

More than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly held in Israeli prisons. Hundreds of inmates have apparently been incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention, a policy under which Palestinians are kept in Israeli detention facilities without trial or charge.

Palestinian prisoners suffering medical neglect: Report

Israeli authorities intentionally deny ill Palestinian prisoners access to medical care, leaving them to face deteriorating health and potential death as a result, a report says.

Some Palestinian prisoners have been held in administrative detention for up to eleven years.
Palestinian inmates regularly stage hunger strikes in protest at the administrative detention policy and their harsh prison conditions in Israeli jails.

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