Palestinian says settlers posing as IDF beat him, wife, teen daughters in their home
Yusuf Abu Aisha reports 5 in civilian garb arrived at home during army operation in West Bank village of Talfit, claimed they were from military, then clubbed family, injuring 4
A West Bank Palestinian said Tuesday that a group of settlers posing as soldiers entered his home, then beat him, his wife, and two of their daughters, causing them all injuries.
Yusuf Abu Aisha, a resident of the village of Talfit, south of Nablus, told The Times of Israel that the assault happened while Israel Defense Forces troops were operating in the village.
According to Abu Aisha, there was a knock at the door at around 3 a.m., and people outside identified themselves as soldiers and told him to open up.
When he opened the door, he saw five masked settlers dressed in black civilian clothing and carrying sticks. They proceeded to beat him, his wife, and their two teenage daughters, aged 14 and 18.
“They grabbed me and tried to choke me. They beat anyone who came near them,” he said.
All four were taken to the hospital following the attack.
Abu Aisha said his wife suffered a head injury that required 30 stitches. One of his daughters suffered a broken leg, while the other sustained chest injuries. Abu Aisha himself also suffered chest injuries.
A video shared on social media purported to show bloodstains splattered across the floor of the Aisha home after the attack.
Abu Aisha’s younger children were also at home during the incident but were not injured.
The IDF did not immediately comment on the incident.
A military source confirmed to the Haaretz daily that there was an operation during the night in Talfit, but that there were no reports of unusual activity. The source said that the matter was being checked.
Meanwhile, police said they arrested a suspect in an attack on a Palestinian man in the central West Bank village of Yabrud on Sunday, in which an Israeli vehicle allegedly rammed a resident’s car and then masked assailants stole it and stoned the local. The incident was captured on video.
The suspect, who lives in the northern West Bank and is in his 20s, was caught driving a car that matched the description of the attackers’ vehicle, police say.
Officers spotted the car, ordered the suspect to stop and, when he failed to comply, blocked him on Route 60, near the Ramallah-area settlement of Ofra, and took him into custody, according to police.
Officers who searched the car found suspected stolen military equipment as well as an air gun, dagger, pepper spray, drone, three slingshots and a face mask, police said.
According to WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, the car that was stolen on Sunday belonged to the Yabrud village council and was serving locals in the annual olive harvest season.
The settlers who stole the car during the harvest also reportedly stole several bags of olives, as well as agricultural equipment that was in the vehicle.
WAFA said Israeli forces fired tear gas during a clash that ensued between Palestinians and settlers.
Settler violence in the West Bank has risen sharply since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza, taking place on a near-daily basis and occurring in hundreds of villages and towns across the West Bank.
In August, Palestinian media reported that settlers attacked several villages in the West Bank, including Talfit, setting fire to cars, spray-painting political messages on residential buildings, and damaging a village’s electrical grid.
Critics accuse the government of condoning and even encouraging the violence, which has led to the displacement of dozens of Palestinian families.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers have regularly downplayed the violence as a marginal concern, claiming that nearly all incidents are the work of a few hundred wayward youths.