Jewish settlers pepper-sprayed a two-month-old Palestinian baby on Wednesday near the West Bank village of Burqa, located just south of the evacuated Homesh outpost, the baby’s father told Haaretz.
According to the father, four settlers pepper-sprayed him, the mother and the baby as they stood in line at a military checkpoint. The baby required medical treatment and was given oxygen before being sent home.
A security official said that soldiers had seen a group of Israelis trying to reach the Homesh outpost earlier on Tuesday, and confirmed that the sprayers had fled the scene.
The baby’s father, Mohammed Alaizer, said that he had been traveling with his wife and two-month old from their home in the village of Jaba’a to the Nablus area, when four settlers in while shirts emerged from a car and advanced towards them.
“One of them opened the door and sprayed pepper spray at us. I told him in Hebrew: ‘I have a little boy’ and then he sprayed towards him.”
Alaizer said the baby was unresponsive for two minutes. The family then drove to a nearby village for help, where the baby was given oxygen, after which they returned home.
“We drove fast; all I could think about was my baby. I didn’t see whether soldiers saw what happened or not, it all happened so quickly.”
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Alaizer said he wanted to file a complaint, but he did not know how to identify the alleged assailants.
The police did not respond to Haaretz’s request for comment.
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