Several injured as illegal Israeli settlers attack Palestinian town in occupied West Bank

By Qais Abu Samra and Tarek Chouiref

HEBRON, Palestine/ISTANBUL (AA) – Several Palestinians were injured in a fresh attack by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a local resident said.

“Settlers set up a tent and a sheep pen on the top of Mount Hamroush in the town of Sa’ir,” northeast of Hebron in the southern West Bank, Nabil Younes told Anadolu.

He said that this area is owned by a number of Palestinian families and documented in Ottoman title deeds.

“This action threatens thousands of dunums of land with confiscation for expanding (Israeli) settlements.”

Younes said illegal settlers, with the help of Israeli army forces, attacked the outskirts of the town with stones, triggering clashes with Palestinian residents.

He said Israeli army forces used live fire and tear gas canisters against Palestinians, injuring several residents.

According to Palestinian figures, illegal Israeli settlers staged 2,153 attacks in the occupied West Bank in the first half of this year, killing four Palestinians.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 991 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.