Illegal Israeli settlers hold injured Palestinians in West Bank: Red Crescent

By Qais Omar

BETHLEHEM, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported Wednesday that illegal Israeli settlers prevented injured Palestinians from leaving after they launched an attack in Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank.

It said Israeli settlers held several injured individuals and the organization’s emergency teams are working to reach them.

The teams have so far successfully transported a 33-year-old man who sustained gunshot wounds to his limbs.

Witnesses told Anadolu that a group of illegal settlers attacked the Khallet an-Nahla area and assaulted residents with stones and gunshots, resulting in injuries to several victims.

A civilian escaped and was taken for medical treatment. The settlers, however, closed off the area, preventing medical teams access to the locale, added witnesses.

Earlier Wednesday, the Red Crescent reported that an 18-year-old was shot in his lower back by Israeli gunfire in the village of Qusra near Nablus in the northern West Bank. He was subsequently transported to the hospital.

Witnesses said illegal Israeli settlers had stormed Qusra, attacking properties that triggered confrontations with residents. The Israeli army intervened using live fire and tear gas.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, amid a deadly Israeli offensive that has killed more than 39,400 victims in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio