Four injured in clashes between Palestinians, settlers in Hebron

Four people were injured when clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday night.

Israeli security forces were called to the scene to separate the two groups.

Three Palestinians and one Israeli sustained light injuries.

In a video said to be of the scuffle, posted by the Hamas-affiliated Shehab news agency based in Gaza, the two groups shouted and hurled insults at each other as IDF soldiers worked to keep them apart.

The pro-Palestinian group, International Solidarity Movement, posted another video appearing to be from the incident and claiming the settlers threw stones at the Palestinians.

https://www.facebook.com/TeamPalestina/posts/1626770404032186

The West Bank city has seen an uptick in tensions in recent weeks when 100 settlers took over a disputed house near the Tomb of the Patriarchs and are squatting there, arguing that they had legally purchased the building from a Palestinian owner. Palestinians contest this.

https://twitter.com/ShehabAgencyEn/status/893559529153077248

Some 15 Israeli families illegally entered the Machpela House in late July saying it was a response to the government’s prevarications over security measures at the Temple Mount, set up after a July 14 terror attack in which Arab Israeli terrorists used guns smuggled into the compound to kill two police officers standing guard nearby.

After 10 days, Israel removed the security measures in a bid to defuse spiraling tensions that had set Jerusalem and the West Bank aflame, and amid heavy pressure from Jordan.

There is constant friction between Hebron’s 200,000 Palestinian residents and several hundred Israeli settlers who live in the heart of the city under heavy military guard.