Illegal Israeli settlers attack more Palestinian villages in West Bank

By Awad Rjoob

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Illegal Israeli settlers attacked two more Palestinian villages south of the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank late Saturday.

''Settlers attacked the villages of Al-Sawiya and Qusra, south of Nablus,'' Palestine's official news agency, WAFA, reported.

The agency quoted Mahmoud Hasan, head of the Al-Sawiya village council, who said, "Dozens of settlers from the illegal Eli settlement attacked the homes in the eastern part of the village ... firing live bullets and assaulting residents with stones, without any injuries reported."

Settlers "attacked residents in the southern and eastern parts of the village of Qusra, firing at homes and setting fire to a commercial shop,'' it quoted Fuad Hasan, an activist against settlement.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that a 36-year-old man was "shot in the thigh and transferred to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus during clashes in Beit Furik town.”

According to the Palestinian television channel, the toll of injuries in settler attacks on Palestinian villages and towns since Friday has reached 50.

Illegal settlers launched a massive attack Friday on the village of Al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah in central West Bank, resulting in the killing of a young man and injuries to dozens of Palestinians, in addition to 40 homes and dozens of vehicles being torched.

The settlers on Saturday renewed their attacks on several Palestinian villages and towns in Ramallah and Nablus.

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank since Israel launched a military offensive against the Gaza Strip after a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

While illegal settlers increased their attacks, the Israeli army escalated its operations, killing at least 463 Palestinians, injuring 4,750, and detaining more than 8,000 others, according to Palestinian sources.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul