Masked settlers attack Palestinians with stones, injuring 12, including 3-year-old

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Dozens of masked settlers threw stones at Palestinian West Bank residents Tuesday, injuring 12, as settler violence continues to escalate in the South Hebron Hills.

The event took place near the village of Khirbat al-Mufkara, where settlers also damaged approximately 10 Palestinian vehicles, as well as water tanks in the village. Among the 12 injured was a 3-year-old boy who suffered a head injury and was taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva in moderate condition.

In response, the Palestinians threw stones at the settlers, lightly injuring three of them. Israeli soldiers who arrived at the scene fired tear gas and stun grenades. One Palestinian and one settler were arrested, the police said.

Palestinian residents said the incident began after a Palestinian shepherd reported to locals that setters had stabled his sheep, following which a few Palestinians arrived to the site to help disperse the settlers. About a half an hour later, at around 2 P.M., between 80 and 100 settlers, their faces covered, came to the village. “This is the most I’ve seen compared to past attacks,” said Basel al-Adra, an activist from the nearby village of al-Tuwani. “They came to almost every house and every car in the village,” he added.

“They destroyed the cars, punctured the tiers of tractors and ripped my water tank. They also entered my house and broke dishes,” said Mahmoud Hussein, the grandfather of the injured toddler. According to Hussein, his grandson was injured by a stone, which a settler, standing in the entrance to the house, threw at the child while he was sleeping. Hussein said the settlers also threw stones at the windows. “Not even a single window is left in the house,” he said.

A shattered car and window belonging to Palestinian residents near the village of Khirbat al-Mufkara, in the West Bank, today.

Another Palestinian activist said that over the past week, settlers had built a new sheep farm near the illegal outpost of Avigayil. “Since then, the situation has heated up. They started pasturing on private land right in front of people’s houses,” he said.

According to the Palestinians, soldiers who arrived at the scene fired tear gas canisters at the village houses. The army said one soldier was lightly injured by a stone that was thrown.

A soldier pushes an old man to the ground. Israel barely slaps him on the wrist

Israeli soldiers assault activists, Palestinians bringing water to West Bank village

The illegal settler outpost has running water. Its Palestinian neighbors don’t. This is apartheid at its starkest

In one of the video clips of the incident, deputy battalion commander Maor Moshe is seen shoving a Palestinian man, though a week ago the commander was reprimanded for similarly shoving down a left-wing activist during a protest in the area.

After the incident, Meretz lawmaker Mossi Raz wrote to Defense Minister Benny Gantz. “Settler violence has become an epidemic,” Raz said. “It’s high time for lenience and disregard of this phenomenon to stop. I expect the offenders to be brought to justice immediately.”