Palestinian villagers: IDF took an hour to respond to settler attack, by which time the extremists had fled

Youssef Hammas Abu Ali, a resident of the Palestinian village of Mukhmas, says that it took over an hour for the IDF to arrive at the scene of a settler attack earlier today, by which time the extremists had already left.

Abu Ali, a chicken farmer, says that around nine extremist settlers descended from their illegal settlement outpost of Kol Mevaser close to Mukhmas at around 3 p.m.

They threw stones and slung rocks with a slingshot at villagers gathered at the outskirts of Mukhmas, who had gathered to defend agricultural infrastructure there. Two weeks ago, extremists from the same outpost set fire to a fence right next to a chicken coop in the same area.

The settlers cut the barbed wire set up by villagers to defend Mukhmas, Abu Ali says, but they eventually left due to the presence of the residents.

Villagers called the army to report the attack; the IDF force only turned up after 4 p.m., by which time the settlers left.

The extremists came back on two further occasions.

Rabbi Arik Ascherman, a veteran Israeli human rights activist, says that until the police or army arrest the extremists and destroy the access road to Kol Mevaser, the attacks will continue.

The IDF doesn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last Wednesday, over 10 Palestinians from Mukhmas, including Abu Ali, were injured when extremists from Kol Mevaser attacked the village, with at least four of the villagers requiring hospital treatment for their wounds. When the army finally arrived after an hour the settlers fled, with soldiers then firing tear gas at the Palestinians who had gathered at the site.