Hundreds of Israeli settlers invaded several Palestinian villages and towns in the occupied West Bank for the second day in a row on Wednesday, June 21, killing at least one Palestinian and injuring over 35 others. In many places, heavily armed settlers were accompanied by dozens of Israeli soldiers for protection. The violent settler attacks against Palestinians had started the night before and continued throughout the night.
According to latest reports, the attacks caused widespread damage to Palestinian homes, property, agricultural lands and crops. Over 140 Palestinian cars and other vehicles were damaged, many of them completely burnt. At least 30 Palestinian-owned homes were also set on fire.
Palestinians tried to resist the settler violence by throwing stones at them. In turn, Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets at them and attacked them with stun grenades and tear gas canisters.
27-year-old Omar Qatin was killed in the attacks by the army-backed settlers on June 21. According to reports, the villages of Tormos Ayya, east of Ramallah, Deir Sharaf, east of Nablus, and a number of villages in between including Beit Furik, Awarta, Huwwara, Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, Za’tara, Yasuf, and Beitin were attacked. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society claimed that in many places, settlers prevented their ambulances from reaching the injured and providing them medical attention.
The settler invasions came just a day after a massive raid was conducted by the Israeli security forces in the town of Jenin, which resulted in the killing of at least six Palestinians, including one minor. Over 100 others were injured in the raid, with a number of them in serious condition in hospital.
On June 20, four illegal Israeli settlers were killed in an attack carried out by two Palestinians near the illegal settlement of Eli in the northern occupied West Bank. Four other settlers suffered injuries. One of the resistance fighters who carried out the operation, 26-year-old Mohannad Faleh Shhadeh, was shot dead at the scene of the incident, while 24-year-old Khaled Mostafa Sbah was killed hours later after an hours-long chase with Israeli forces. Additionally, numerous arrests were made yesterday as the Israeli forces raided and ransacked several homes, including of the two suspects. They also began preparations to detonate and demolish their homes, a policy which has been denounced as a form of “collective punishment” and is a violation of international law. It is used routinely by Israeli authorities against suspected Palestinian attackers.
Israeli forces have been carrying out violent raids across the occupied West Bank on an increasingly regular basis. Since the beginning of this year, Israeli forces and settlers have killed a total of 163 Palestinians, including 27 children, in the West Bank and Gaza. At least 129 of them were killed in violent raids and settler attacks. 34 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
