Jerusalem: Violence by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank may have reached a point where 'settlers are trying to kill Jews,' a Jewish political activist said after surviving a life-threatening attack.
According to Anadolu Agency, Oded Yedaya, a 76-year-old Jewish artist, photographer, educator, and political activist, was critically injured when an illegal Israeli settler deliberately threw a large stone at his head during a protest in the occupied West Bank in early November. As Yedaya was trying to capture a 'proper shot' of the stone throwing by illegal settlers, one stone hit him on the cheek, carving a five-centimeter-deep wound under his eye and fracturing the bone. Photos showing his face, body, and clothes soaked in blood quickly went viral on social media.
Recalling the moment of the attack, Yedaya noted that the settler aimed for his head deliberately. "The first stone hit my butt, but then he threw again, saw that he'd hit me, and ran off. He was hooded, so I don't know who he was," he said. Yedaya's wife, Ronit, also believed the settler intended to kill her husband, stating that a slightly different angle could have been fatal.
After the attack, Palestinians took Yedaya to a clinic in Beita town in the northern West Bank, from where he was later taken to Israeli Beilinson Hospital in the central Petah Tikva district. Despite his injuries, Yedaya continues to call for action against settler violence, stressing the deterioration of the situation over the past few years. He is urging his friend and former military comrade, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to take steps to address the violence.
Yedaya, who has been a devoted participant in West Bank protests for over 20 years, emphasizes the need for a resolution to the ongoing conflict. He believes the latest escalation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip may offer a pathway to a solution but insists on the necessity of fighting for it. Since October 2023, he has been spending nights in Palestinian homes to help prevent harassment and calls for the removal of all settlements except those agreed upon by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Geneva Initiative.
According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal Israeli settlers have carried out more than 7,000 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023. The violence has resulted in over 1,073 Palestinian deaths and injuries to 10,700 others, as reported by Palestinian figures. The International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal in a landmark opinion last July, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.