Settlers said to throw stones, torch car, leave racist graffiti in West Bank attacks
After separate incidents in towns of al-Mufaqara and Turmus Ayya, Palestinians post photos of vandalism reading ‘revenge, death to Arabs’; medics treating casualties
Settlers allegedly attacked Palestinians in two towns in the West Bank on Saturday, throwing stones at children in al-Mufaqara and setting fire to a vehicle and leaving racist graffiti in Turmus Ayya.
There was no immediate response on Sunday morning from the Israel Defense Forces to the reported incidents.
In one alleged attack, on Saturday afternoon, official Palestinian news outlet Wafa reported that a group of armed settlers targeted shepherds in al-Mufaqara in the South Hebron Hills, “physically assaulting them and beating them up.”
The report said one child was injured when he was hit in the foot by a stone thrown by one of the assailants, while another suffered bruises after being physically assaulted.
An eyewitness report on X, formerly Twitter, said that two settlers threw stones at two children who were grazing sheep in al-Mufaqara, while a group of settlers — including armed men or security forces — watched the incident from a nearby hill and did not intervene.
Footage shared on the same post showed Palestinian Red Cross medics treating casualties at the scene and transferring them to an ambulance, though none of them appeared to be children.
Wafa reported that several sheep were also injured in the incident.
היום בצהרים הותקפו שני ילדים מהכפר מופגרה בעת שרעו את הצאן. שני מתנחלים הגיעו וידו עליהם אבנים, בעוד מתנחלים נוספים וחמושים עומדים על הגבעה וצופים. כאשר הגיע צבא למקום הצטרף גם הוא לצפות במתרחש בלי להתערב בדבר, ואז עזב את המקום. pic.twitter.com/4c8xshCugG
— מחוץ לעדר (@masafering) February 17, 2024
In Turmus Ayya north of Ramallah, meanwhile, pictures and video posted on X showed a car with Israeli license plates smoldering with firefighters nearby, and a wall with “revenge, death to Arabs” daubed in black paint with a Jewish star.
Wafa reported that the overnight attack targeted a “civilian home” and the attackers came from a nearby Israeli settlement. No injuries were reported.
דיווחים ברשתות פלסטיניות: כתובת נאצה וניסיון להצית רכב הלילה בכפר תורמוס עייא ליד רמאללה pic.twitter.com/U8gfLgTmh9
— הוד בראל Hod Barel (@hod_barel) February 18, 2024
Also Saturday, Wafa reported that residents of the northern West Bank settlement Yitzhar, accompanied by a security guard, attacked three Palestinian men outside Asira al-Qibliya.
The settlers reportedly set up a roadblock near the West Bank village, forced the three Palestinian men out of their vehicle when they drove by, and threatened them with violence.
The reports came as Israel faces increasing international pressure to crack down on settler violence, with both the United States and the United Kingdom recently slapping sanctions on extremist settlers alleged to have carried out attacks on Palestinians.
At least 10 Palestinians were killed and dozens of homes were torched across the West Bank in settler attacks in 2023, human rights group Yesh Din charged in January.
The violence spiked after the October 7 massacre carried out by the Hamas terror group in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were slaughtered and 253 were taken hostage, but violence was already on the rise before then, according to watchdogs.
In October, the Shin Bet warned the government that the increase in settler attacks may cause an eruption of violence committed by Palestinians.
The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule since the 1967 Six Day War, while the Palestinian Authority has controlled parts of the territory since 1994.
About 490,000 settlers live among approximately 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank in settlements that are widely considered illegal under international law.
