Settlers on the Rampage in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank

Residents of the villages of Kusra and Asira al-Qibliya, in the occupied West Bank district of Nablus, fended off an attack by dozens of violent Israeli settlers on Saturday, February 13, who targeted the outskirts of the two villages, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

A Palestinian vehicle goes up in flames after being torched during an attack by violent Israeli settlers in the village of Kusra last Saturday, February 13, 2021.

A Palestinian vehicle goes up in flames after being torched during an attack by violent Israeli settlers in the village of Kusra last Saturday, February 13, 2021. (Photo: Kusra Council)

Ghassan Daghlas, an official in charge of monitoring settler attacks in the area, told Wafa that dozens of settlers from the nearby illegal colonial settlement of Yitzhar, illegally built on Palestinian land, attacked buildings, vehicles and other property on the outskirts of the two villages while enjoying cover from the Israeli occupation army and the Border Police.

Residents of the two villages gathered in large numbers to confront the attackers, and loudspeakers of mosques were reportedly heard calling on villagers to be on the alert and ward off the violent fascist settlers. While Palestinian residents of the villages sought to defend their homes and property, forces from Israel’s occupation army fired teargas canisters at the defenders causing numerous cases of gas inhalation. When the settlers failed to advance into the heart of the two villages they retreated to their illegal settlement.

On Sunday evening, February 14, a number of settlers attacked and smashed the windows of a Palestinian bus that went astray while driving through the village of ‘Asira al-Qibliya. Head the village council, Hafeth Saleh, told the Palestinian news agency Wafa that the driver lost his way while passing through the village, only to find his bus suddenly being attacked by settlers on the outskirts of the village. No injuries were reported.

A Palestinian man was seriously injured on Friday, February 12, after he was assaulted and beaten by settlers and occupation soldiers in the village of Kafr Qallil, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to witnesses. Hayel Amer, a local Palestinian citizen from Kafr Qallil, said Israeli settlers who were accompanied by a military escort assaulted and beat up his brother, Nassir, causing him a number of serious injuries and bone fractures. Amer reported that his brother was rushed to nearby Rafidia Public Hospital in Nablus for medical treatment, where he was expected to undergo a number of urgent operations.