Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Shepherds in Occupied Hebron
Groups of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian shepherds in Zatouna village, south of occupied Hebron on Friday, March 3, 2023.
Palestinian local sources reported that Israeli settlers severely beat the shepherds Mohammed and Musab Khudairat and forces them to leave the area.
Israeli settlers, protected by Israeli occupation forces, regularly carry out attacks against Palestinians and their lands in Zatouna village.
The attacks aim at displacing the Palestinians from their lands and expanding the Israeli settlements.
About 700,000 Israeli settlers live currently in more than 200 settlements built on Palestinian land considered illegal under international law.
Palestinian figures showed that Israeli forces and settlers carried out about 700 attacks against Palestinian families and their properties in the occupied West Bank.
The attacks included assaulting Palestinians, uprooting trees, razing lands, seizing properties, burning and vandalizing vehicles, and closing roads.
Palestinians: Israeli Fire Kills Teen in West Bank
Friday, 3 March, 2023
File photo: Israeli soldiers secure the area at the Huwara checkpoint
south of the West Bank city of Nablus, Nov. 4, 2020. (AP)
Asharq Al-Awsat
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces shot and killed a teenage boy Thursday in the north of the occupied West Bank, the latest in a flare-up of violence that has raged for months.
The ministry said Mohammed Saleem, 15, was wounded with a live bullet in the back along with another teenager who was hit by a gunshot in the chest in Azoun village near the town of Qalqilya. Saleem died at a hospital, The Associated Press said.
Palestinian media reported the two were wounded as they threw stones toward Israeli troops that had entered the village.
The Israeli military said the Palestinians were throwing fireworks at Israeli vehicles traveling on a nearby road, and that when soldiers arrived, they threw firebombs at them. The soldiers opened fire.
The Israeli army has been conducting near-daily raids in Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank as violence that began last spring continued.
Since the start of this year, 64 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 14 Israelis during that same time. It has been one of the deadliest periods between Israelis and Palestinians in years.
Meanwhile, an Israeli court convicted four Jewish Israelis of incitement to violence and terror for participating in a wedding in which participants celebrated an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents.
The 2015 attack on the village of Duma in the West Bank killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents, Riham and Saad, and drew condemnation from across Israel’s political spectrum.
Months after the attack, a video from a wedding that aired on Israeli television appeared to show guests at a wedding brandishing rifles and dancing to music with lyrics calling for revenge, while some stabbed photos of Ali.
The four suspects were minors at the time of the wedding and acquitted by a juvenile court, according to Israeli media. Prosecutors appealed that decision, resulting in Thursday’s conviction in Jerusalem’s district court.
Asharq Al-Awsat
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces shot and killed a teenage boy Thursday in the north of the occupied West Bank, the latest in a flare-up of violence that has raged for months.
The ministry said Mohammed Saleem, 15, was wounded with a live bullet in the back along with another teenager who was hit by a gunshot in the chest in Azoun village near the town of Qalqilya. Saleem died at a hospital, The Associated Press said.
Palestinian media reported the two were wounded as they threw stones toward Israeli troops that had entered the village.
The Israeli military said the Palestinians were throwing fireworks at Israeli vehicles traveling on a nearby road, and that when soldiers arrived, they threw firebombs at them. The soldiers opened fire.
The Israeli army has been conducting near-daily raids in Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank as violence that began last spring continued.
Since the start of this year, 64 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 14 Israelis during that same time. It has been one of the deadliest periods between Israelis and Palestinians in years.
Meanwhile, an Israeli court convicted four Jewish Israelis of incitement to violence and terror for participating in a wedding in which participants celebrated an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents.
The 2015 attack on the village of Duma in the West Bank killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents, Riham and Saad, and drew condemnation from across Israel’s political spectrum.
Months after the attack, a video from a wedding that aired on Israeli television appeared to show guests at a wedding brandishing rifles and dancing to music with lyrics calling for revenge, while some stabbed photos of Ali.
The four suspects were minors at the time of the wedding and acquitted by a juvenile court, according to Israeli media. Prosecutors appealed that decision, resulting in Thursday’s conviction in Jerusalem’s district court.
Palestinians mount patrols in West Bank to prevent settler incursions
‘We have become more vigilant than before,’ a leader of a watch group in Turmus Ayya says, after settlers rampaged in Huwara following deadly terror shooting
An aerial view of a scrapyard where cars were torched overnight in the Palestinian town of Huwara near Nablus in the West Bank, February 27, 2023. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP)
Police said they had made a handful of arrests, but all those held have since been released. On Thursday, the Defense Ministry approved administration detention for two suspects, a controversial practice whereby individuals can be held without charge practically indefinitely, and are not granted access to the evidence against them.
“After what happened in Huwara, we have become more vigilant than before,” said one of the leaders of the patrol, his face concealed.
The team first formed last year after tensions with the settlers rose following a clash, but they increased patrols after attacks this year, moving around on foot or on off-road buggies. Some carry baseball bats.
“We, the youth, formed guard committees… we take turns with each other to fend off any possible attack,” another said.
Lookouts on the hills
Turmus Ayya, home to some 4,000 people, many of them Palestinian-Americans, has seen a number of recent attacks by settlers.
In January, a Palestinian home and vehicle were torched in the village, in an arson attack in which Israeli extremists were the suspected perpetrators, an Israeli security official told AFP.
“Settlement outposts surround the village, and every two weeks there is an assault,” another member of the defense group said.
A masked Palestinian man holds a flashlight during a night patrol in the village of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, late on February 28, 2023. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
In recent weeks, a group of settlers was seen coming close to the village, but on spotting the patrol, they retreated.
The West Bank is home to about 2.9 million Palestinians as well as an estimated 500,000 Jewish settlers, who live in state-approved settlements widely considered illegal under international law.
The young Palestinian men move in groups, monitoring the area from a hilltop to watch for any movement from the settlers on hills across the valley.
Masked Palestinian men hold batons as they take part in a night patrol in the village of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, late on February 28, 2023. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
Abdul Karim al-Zaghloul, a Palestinian-American from Ohio visiting family in the village, brought cups of hot tea to the young men on a cold night.
“We are ready for any attack, God willing,” another patrol member said.
‘We have become more vigilant than before,’ a leader of a watch group in Turmus Ayya says, after settlers rampaged in Huwara following deadly terror shooting
Today
Masked Palestinian men pose for a picture as they take part in a night patrol in the village of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, late on February 28, 2023. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
TURMUS AYYA, West Bank — Wielding long sticks and with their faces wrapped in Palestinian checkered keffiyeh scarves, young men set out on a night patrol to guard their village in the Israeli-controlled West Bank.
Each night, the team gathers at Turmus Ayya in the north of the West Bank, ready to raise the alarm in the event of a raid by Israeli settlers, who have set up bases in outposts around the village.
“We do not intend to attack anyone — we work to defend our people and our village, our home, our land, and our honor,” one said, requesting anonymity for fear of arrest by Israeli forces.
Keep Watching
“These are our weapons — sticks and flashlights — and we have nothing but them to defend ourselves,” he said, raising a baton and a powerful electric torch.
Tensions are high, especially after the nearby Palestinian town of Huwara came under attack by settlers on Sunday, hours after two Israeli brothers were killed in a terror attack there as they drove past.
Masked Palestinian men pose for a picture as they take part in a night patrol in the village of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, late on February 28, 2023. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
TURMUS AYYA, West Bank — Wielding long sticks and with their faces wrapped in Palestinian checkered keffiyeh scarves, young men set out on a night patrol to guard their village in the Israeli-controlled West Bank.
Each night, the team gathers at Turmus Ayya in the north of the West Bank, ready to raise the alarm in the event of a raid by Israeli settlers, who have set up bases in outposts around the village.
“We do not intend to attack anyone — we work to defend our people and our village, our home, our land, and our honor,” one said, requesting anonymity for fear of arrest by Israeli forces.
Keep Watching
“These are our weapons — sticks and flashlights — and we have nothing but them to defend ourselves,” he said, raising a baton and a powerful electric torch.
Tensions are high, especially after the nearby Palestinian town of Huwara came under attack by settlers on Sunday, hours after two Israeli brothers were killed in a terror attack there as they drove past.
Hundreds of rampaging settlers — 300 to 400 people, according to the Israeli army — set homes and cars ablaze.
After the attack, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant deplored the situation as “intolerable” and warned that Israel “cannot allow a situation in which citizens take the law into their (own) hands.”
After the attack, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant deplored the situation as “intolerable” and warned that Israel “cannot allow a situation in which citizens take the law into their (own) hands.”
An aerial view of a scrapyard where cars were torched overnight in the Palestinian town of Huwara near Nablus in the West Bank, February 27, 2023. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP)
Police said they had made a handful of arrests, but all those held have since been released. On Thursday, the Defense Ministry approved administration detention for two suspects, a controversial practice whereby individuals can be held without charge practically indefinitely, and are not granted access to the evidence against them.
“After what happened in Huwara, we have become more vigilant than before,” said one of the leaders of the patrol, his face concealed.
The team first formed last year after tensions with the settlers rose following a clash, but they increased patrols after attacks this year, moving around on foot or on off-road buggies. Some carry baseball bats.
“We, the youth, formed guard committees… we take turns with each other to fend off any possible attack,” another said.
Lookouts on the hills
Turmus Ayya, home to some 4,000 people, many of them Palestinian-Americans, has seen a number of recent attacks by settlers.
In January, a Palestinian home and vehicle were torched in the village, in an arson attack in which Israeli extremists were the suspected perpetrators, an Israeli security official told AFP.
“Settlement outposts surround the village, and every two weeks there is an assault,” another member of the defense group said.
A masked Palestinian man holds a flashlight during a night patrol in the village of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, late on February 28, 2023. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
In recent weeks, a group of settlers was seen coming close to the village, but on spotting the patrol, they retreated.
The West Bank is home to about 2.9 million Palestinians as well as an estimated 500,000 Jewish settlers, who live in state-approved settlements widely considered illegal under international law.
The young Palestinian men move in groups, monitoring the area from a hilltop to watch for any movement from the settlers on hills across the valley.
Masked Palestinian men hold batons as they take part in a night patrol in the village of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, late on February 28, 2023. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
Abdul Karim al-Zaghloul, a Palestinian-American from Ohio visiting family in the village, brought cups of hot tea to the young men on a cold night.
“We are ready for any attack, God willing,” another patrol member said.
Settlers seen hurling stones, damaging trees in northern West Bank village
Footage published by Yesh Din shows soldiers standing by amid latest incident of violence, hours after troops clashed with activists in Huwara
According to Yesh Din, initially, a small number of settlers escorted by soldiers arrived at the northeastern part of Burin and began damaging the olive trees and saplings. Later, a larger group came and hurled stones at homes in the village, shattering several windows, the rights group said.
Yesh Din said the settlers also confronted residents of Burin, and in response, the soldiers launched tear gas at the town. Some 30 Palestinians were reportedly treated for tear gas inhalation, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was looking into the incident.
There has been a rise in settler violence in recent months, and soldiers are sometimes seen standing by as they occur. Soldiers are legally permitted — even required in some cases — to intervene to prevent violent attacks, regardless of nationality. The military generally prefers that police deal with the attacks and settler arrests, but police forces are stretched thin in the West Bank.
Last Saturday, Israeli settlers torched a number of Palestinian-owned cars in Burin.
There have also been several incidents of settlers attacking soldiers in the West Bank over the past week.
Police were meanwhile investigating calls by settlers to carry out renewed rioting in Huwara over the weekend, The Times of Israel’s sister site, Zman Yisrael reported.
Labor MK Naama Lazimi said she had notified police chief Kobi Shabtai over the calls which were circulated on WhatsApp. “Police should tonight arrest the organizers of the next pogrom for planning acts of terrorism, violence and damage to security,” she said on Twitter.
Earlier Friday in Huwara, footage showed IDF troops scuffling with activists and in several cases stun grenades were thrown.
In one video soldiers can be seen repeatedly pushing former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg until he falls to the ground. Several activists were briefly detained, organizers said.
Before the clash, the military stopped some 10 buses carrying people from the “Standing Together” and the “Looking the Occupation in the Eye” movements from reaching Huwara. The activists then tried to proceed on foot from the nearby Tapuah junction to Huwara.
The activists later got off their vehicles and began marching toward the town, many of them carrying signs reading “End Jewish terror” and “Palestinian lives matter.” However, they were again blocked by the army, which said it was forced to bar their entry in response to disorderly conduct that had broken out. Protest organizers in a statement called the military order a form of “collective punishment of the victims of the rampage.”
The IDF said that following an assessment and due to “security concerns,” the area around Huwara was declared a closed military zone, “to prevent friction in the area.”
Israeli security forces block Palestinian and Israeli peace activists protesting at the entrance of Huwara in the West Bank, on March 3, 2023.
A member of the Israeli security forces scuffles with a protester as Palestinian and Israeli peace activists demonstrate at the entrance of Huwara in the West Bank, on March 3, 2023. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Huwara has long been a flashpoint; it is one of the only Palestinian towns through which Israelis regularly travel in order to reach settlements in the northern West Bank. There have been several shooting attacks on Israeli motorists on Route 60 in Huwara.
There are plans to build a bypass road for settlers to avoid them having to travel through the Palestinian town, but the construction work has been stalled.
A Jerusalem court on Thursday ordered police to release all of the suspects detained over the riots, but the Defense Ministry signed off on an administrative detention order for two of them, including a minor.
Palestinians inspect a damaged house and scorched cars in the town of Huwara, near the West Bank city of Nablus, February 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Administrative detention is a controversial practice whereby individuals can be held without charge practically indefinitely, and are not granted access to the evidence against them.
While it is rarely used against Jewish suspects, nearly 1,000 Palestinians are currently held in custody under the practice.
The attacker who carried out the deadly shooting in Huwara, killing the Yaniv brothers, was believed to be hiding out in one of the Palestinian towns in the Nablus area.
The military has bolstered the West Bank with four additional infantry battalions following the shooting attack and subsequent settler rioting in Huwara.
Footage published by Yesh Din shows soldiers standing by amid latest incident of violence, hours after troops clashed with activists in Huwara
TOI
March 3,2023
Masked settlers hurl stones at Palestinian homes in the northern West Bank village of Burin, March 3, 2023. (Yesh Din)
A group of settlers on Friday afternoon were documented hurling stones at Palestinians and damaging olive on the outskirts of a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, as Israeli soldiers stood by.
The incident came hours after Israeli troops clashed with hundreds of left-wing Israeli activists trying to enter the nearby Palestinian town of Huwara on a solidarity visit following a deadly settler rampage there earlier in the week.
In footage published by the Yesh Din rights group, masked settlers could be seen hurling stones at Palestinian homes in the village of Burin, near Nablus, and damaging olive trees on the outskirts of the town. Soldiers are seen standing next to them, without getting involved.
A group of settlers on Friday afternoon were documented hurling stones at Palestinians and damaging olive on the outskirts of a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, as Israeli soldiers stood by.
The incident came hours after Israeli troops clashed with hundreds of left-wing Israeli activists trying to enter the nearby Palestinian town of Huwara on a solidarity visit following a deadly settler rampage there earlier in the week.
In footage published by the Yesh Din rights group, masked settlers could be seen hurling stones at Palestinian homes in the village of Burin, near Nablus, and damaging olive trees on the outskirts of the town. Soldiers are seen standing next to them, without getting involved.
According to Yesh Din, initially, a small number of settlers escorted by soldiers arrived at the northeastern part of Burin and began damaging the olive trees and saplings. Later, a larger group came and hurled stones at homes in the village, shattering several windows, the rights group said.
Yesh Din said the settlers also confronted residents of Burin, and in response, the soldiers launched tear gas at the town. Some 30 Palestinians were reportedly treated for tear gas inhalation, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was looking into the incident.
There has been a rise in settler violence in recent months, and soldiers are sometimes seen standing by as they occur. Soldiers are legally permitted — even required in some cases — to intervene to prevent violent attacks, regardless of nationality. The military generally prefers that police deal with the attacks and settler arrests, but police forces are stretched thin in the West Bank.
Last Saturday, Israeli settlers torched a number of Palestinian-owned cars in Burin.
There have also been several incidents of settlers attacking soldiers in the West Bank over the past week.
Police were meanwhile investigating calls by settlers to carry out renewed rioting in Huwara over the weekend, The Times of Israel’s sister site, Zman Yisrael reported.
Labor MK Naama Lazimi said she had notified police chief Kobi Shabtai over the calls which were circulated on WhatsApp. “Police should tonight arrest the organizers of the next pogrom for planning acts of terrorism, violence and damage to security,” she said on Twitter.
Earlier Friday in Huwara, footage showed IDF troops scuffling with activists and in several cases stun grenades were thrown.
In one video soldiers can be seen repeatedly pushing former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg until he falls to the ground. Several activists were briefly detained, organizers said.
Before the clash, the military stopped some 10 buses carrying people from the “Standing Together” and the “Looking the Occupation in the Eye” movements from reaching Huwara. The activists then tried to proceed on foot from the nearby Tapuah junction to Huwara.
The activists later got off their vehicles and began marching toward the town, many of them carrying signs reading “End Jewish terror” and “Palestinian lives matter.” However, they were again blocked by the army, which said it was forced to bar their entry in response to disorderly conduct that had broken out. Protest organizers in a statement called the military order a form of “collective punishment of the victims of the rampage.”
The IDF said that following an assessment and due to “security concerns,” the area around Huwara was declared a closed military zone, “to prevent friction in the area.”
Israeli security forces block Palestinian and Israeli peace activists protesting at the entrance of Huwara in the West Bank, on March 3, 2023.
(JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
In a statement to The Times of Israel, a military spokesperson said troops first attempted to disperse the gathering “in agreement” with the activists. After failing to do so, “the forces were forced to also use riot dispersal means in order to disperse the gathering and maintain the security of all those present in the area,” the IDF said.
The visit came amid an outpouring of shock and horror in Israel and abroad after hundreds of settlers ransacked the Palestinian town of Huwara and surrounding villages Sunday night in revenge for a terror attack in which two Israeli brothers, — Hallel Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, from the settlement of Har Bracha — driving through the town were gunned down hours earlier.
Radical settlers burned homes, cars and storefronts and assaulted Palestinians, leading to scores of injuries and the death of a Palestinian man in unclear circumstances. Israel’s top general in the West Bank referred to the rampage as a “pogrom.”
The left-wing activists complained that while their busses were being stopped from entering, settlers continued to traverse the town freely on Friday. Stores on Huwara’s main road where much of the rampage took place have been closed for the past week due to a military order that the IDF says is required to maintain calm in the area.
Four protesters who tried to go around the IDF roadblock were detained.
In a statement to The Times of Israel, a military spokesperson said troops first attempted to disperse the gathering “in agreement” with the activists. After failing to do so, “the forces were forced to also use riot dispersal means in order to disperse the gathering and maintain the security of all those present in the area,” the IDF said.
The visit came amid an outpouring of shock and horror in Israel and abroad after hundreds of settlers ransacked the Palestinian town of Huwara and surrounding villages Sunday night in revenge for a terror attack in which two Israeli brothers, — Hallel Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, from the settlement of Har Bracha — driving through the town were gunned down hours earlier.
Radical settlers burned homes, cars and storefronts and assaulted Palestinians, leading to scores of injuries and the death of a Palestinian man in unclear circumstances. Israel’s top general in the West Bank referred to the rampage as a “pogrom.”
The left-wing activists complained that while their busses were being stopped from entering, settlers continued to traverse the town freely on Friday. Stores on Huwara’s main road where much of the rampage took place have been closed for the past week due to a military order that the IDF says is required to maintain calm in the area.
Four protesters who tried to go around the IDF roadblock were detained.
A member of the Israeli security forces scuffles with a protester as Palestinian and Israeli peace activists demonstrate at the entrance of Huwara in the West Bank, on March 3, 2023. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Huwara has long been a flashpoint; it is one of the only Palestinian towns through which Israelis regularly travel in order to reach settlements in the northern West Bank. There have been several shooting attacks on Israeli motorists on Route 60 in Huwara.
There are plans to build a bypass road for settlers to avoid them having to travel through the Palestinian town, but the construction work has been stalled.
A Jerusalem court on Thursday ordered police to release all of the suspects detained over the riots, but the Defense Ministry signed off on an administrative detention order for two of them, including a minor.
Palestinians inspect a damaged house and scorched cars in the town of Huwara, near the West Bank city of Nablus, February 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Administrative detention is a controversial practice whereby individuals can be held without charge practically indefinitely, and are not granted access to the evidence against them.
While it is rarely used against Jewish suspects, nearly 1,000 Palestinians are currently held in custody under the practice.
The attacker who carried out the deadly shooting in Huwara, killing the Yaniv brothers, was believed to be hiding out in one of the Palestinian towns in the Nablus area.
The military has bolstered the West Bank with four additional infantry battalions following the shooting attack and subsequent settler rioting in Huwara.
