B’Tselem video footage documents how for five straight days, from October 6 to 10, groups of young Israelis from the settlement of Kiryat Arba came every afternoon and evening to the fence separating their settlement from the Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi al-Nasarah in Hebron and threw stones and glass bottles at nearby houses.
Settler attacks intensified after two stabbing attacks by Palestinians in Hebron: On the afternoon of October 8, a Palestinian stabbed a settler at the western entrance to Kiryat Arba, severely wounding him before fleeing the scene. Another attack took place at the same spot around noon on October 9, when a member of the Border Police sustained slight injuries and the Palestinian assailant was shot to death.
Israeli soldiers search a Palestinian man in Hebron, occupied West Bank, October 21, 2015. (Photo: Activestills)
According to B’Tselem: “This latest installment in a longstanding campaign of violence by settlers in Hebron – which lasted five days and received military backing – reflects the ongoing reality of daily life in the city and serves as an extreme example of what life is like throughout the West Bank. In some instances, soldiers do fulfill their duty to try and protect Palestinians from attacks by settlers. Yet by and large, Israeli security forces routinely allow settlers to harm Palestinians or their property, often accompanying the attackers, providing backup and protecting them; in some cases, they even actively join the attack. Given this complex reality, any attempt to portray the military as a buffer between neighboring communities that live in conflict is divorced from reality. The power balance in the West Bank is asymmetrical and unbalanced. Security forces provide full backup for violence instigated by one party, the settlers, against the other party – the Palestinians.”
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