Palestinian villages raided by Israeli settlers in wake of shooting in West Bank

Israeli settlers have raided two Palestinian villages overnight in the occupied West Bank in the wake of a shooting incident that left Israelis injured.

A drive-by shooting occurred at the Tapuah Junction south of Nablus in northern West Bank on Sunday. According to the Israeli military, at least three settlers were wounded while the suspected car has not yet been tracked down.

Palestinian sources, however, refuted Israel’s claim that the wounded persons were settlers, saying the Israelis shot in the incident were soldiers.

The shooting came hours after Israeli forces shot down a Palestinian woman at Gush Etzion Junction near the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) over an alleged stabbing attempt against the soldiers. The Palestinian woman succumbed to her injury hours later.

Late Sunday and in the early hours of Monday, dozens of violent Israeli settlers launched overnight attacks against the Palestinian villages of Jaloud and Qusra, setting brush fires and hurling stones, in what appeared to be a revenge attack for the shooting that occurred in a separate part of the West Bank.

According to the Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, Israeli security forces arrested at least 11 Palestinians and four people were wounded by rubber bullets in Jaloud after clashes occurred between invading settlers, from the nearby Shiloh settlement, and defending villagers.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, confirmed the attack on Jaloud, saying the villagers had come out to defend the village after the settlers attacked.

In Qusra, according to a report by the Palestinian Information Center, dozens of Israeli settlers attacked homes with stones, before Israeli troops stormed the village and secured the withdrawal of the settlers by attacking local youths, who were defending their village, with live ammunition and tear gas canisters.

In both incidents, no settlers were arrested.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip during the Six-Day War in 1967. It later had to withdraw from Gaza but has been occupying the other territories since.

About 700,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds since then. The international community views the settlements as illegal under international law but has done little to pressure the Israeli regime to freeze or reverse its policies.

The occupied West Bank is home to some 2.5 million Palestinians.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir