A Palestinian father and his son were injured on Saturday, November 4, after they were attacked by extremist Israeli settlers in the Tell Rumeida neighborhood in Hebron city, in the southern West Bank, according to the Wafa Palestinian news agency.

Dozens of Jewish settlers from the illegal settlements of Ramat Yshai and Beit Hadassa attacked numerous homes in Tel Rumeida and on Shuhadaa Street in the city, terrorized their residents and pelted them with rocks.

Palestinian Activist Imad Abu Shamsiyeh, from the Defenders of Human Rights group, told the Palestinian news agency Ma’an that Israeli settlers attacked his family home with rocks, injuring him and his son Saleh. The father sustained injuries in his leg while his son Saleh was slightly injured in the arm.

Imad Abu Shamsiyeh, Palestinian activist and resident of Hebron, who was assaulted and injured by rocks thrown by Jewish settlers on Saturday, November 4 (Photo: Ma’an)

Abu Shamsiyeh indicated that the attacking Israeli settlers were being defended by armed Israeli security forces. He added that, after the attack, Israeli soldiers forced him to stay inside his house.

Abu Shamsiyeh said that a fence he had erected around his home, located in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood in the Old City of Hebron, prevented further injury to members of his family.

Tel Rumeida has long been a flash point for tensions between Palestinians and Israeli settlers and military, as it is located near illegal Israeli settlements whose residents are notoriously aggressive toward Palestinians.

The neighborhood is located within the area of the city designated as H2, an area taking over the bulk of Hebron’s Old City that is under full Israeli military control, and the site of five illegal Israeli settlements, which continually expand into surrounding Palestinian neighborhoods. The Israeli-controlled H2 area is home to 30,000 Palestinians and around 800 Israeli settlers who live under the protection of the Israeli army.

Last week far right and settler Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced that he plans to approve the construction of a building in Hebron’s Old City settlement. This follows Israel’s final approval last month to the construction of 31 apartment units in the same locale further up Shuhada Street.

The Israeli peace movement Peace Now released a statement saying that the “settlement in Hebron represents the ugliest face of Israeli control of the territories. In order to maintain 800 settlers among a quarter of a million Palestinians, entire streets are closed to Palestinians in Hebron who are denied the freedom of movement and livelihood.” The latest decisions just “add insult to injury,” Peace Now said.