Jerusalem: At least seven Palestinians were injured in attacks by Israeli army forces and illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, officials said. The Jerusalem Governorate reported that three Palestinians, including a child, were wounded during an attack by illegal settlers in the town of Hizma, northeast of East Jerusalem. The attackers also set fire to Palestinian-owned property in the town.
According to Anadolu Agency, illegal settlers opened fire in the town's eastern area, injuring two young men and a boy. Additionally, settlers burned down a shack belonging to a local resident, as reported by the official news agency Wafa.
In a separate incident, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that its medics transported a young man to a hospital after he was assaulted by settlers in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron. Witnesses indicated that a group of settlers attacked residents of the Susiya community near the town, throwing stones and injuring a young man.
Further north in the West Bank, settlers stormed the village of Al-Mughayyir near Ramallah but retreated after facing resistance from local residents, according to Wafa. Settlers also used off-road vehicles to chase Palestinian shepherds from their land in the Khirbet Samra area of the northern Jordan Valley, the broadcaster reported.
Mahdi Daraghmeh, head of the al-Malih village council in the Jordan Valley, told Anadolu that six Palestinian families, totaling more than 25 people, were forced to dismantle their shelters and leave Khirbet Samra due to repeated settler attacks. Meanwhile, a Palestinian Bedouin community in the West Bank was raided by Israeli settlers, who stormed the Arab al-Melihat community northwest of Jericho under the protection of Israeli forces, the Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights stated.
According to the organization, settlers also attempted to establish a new settlement outpost in the Al-Mintar area near the village of Kardala in the northeastern West Bank. Under army protection, groups of settlers gathered and tried to set up several caravans in the area.
Additionally, settlers seized a drove of cattle belonging to a Palestinian resident in the Al-Hamma area of the northern Jordan Valley, as reported by Wafa. In Azzun, east of Qalqilya, settlers uprooted and damaged 180 trees, including olive and citrus trees, and destroyed nearly 100 olive saplings belonging to local farmers, the agency added.
Palestinian sources indicate that at least 415 settler attacks were recorded last month across the occupied territory. Israeli government data shows that 414 attacks by settlers were carried out against Palestinians in the first half of this year, marking a 30% increase from 2024.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society also reported that a young Palestinian was injured by Israeli army fire in Hebron, and an 85-year-old Palestinian was hospitalized after being beaten by Israeli forces in Masafer Yatta, southern Hebron. Another Palestinian was wounded by Israeli fire in Jenin in the northern West Bank.
Since the commencement of Israel's assault on Gaza in October 2023, at least 986 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers, as per the Palestinian Health Ministry. The International Court of Justice had declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal last July, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.