5 Palestinians injured in Jewish settler attacks in West Bank

By Firdevs Bulut Kartal, Mohammed Ghifari and Gulsen Topcu

TORONTO (AA) – Five Palestinians were injured in attacks by Jewish settlers in different parts of the occupied West Bank, according to media reports on Thursday.

A group of Jewish settlers from the settlement of Karnei Shomron, under the protection of Israeli forces, attacked the residents of the Qufr Selis area, south of Qalqilya, with stones, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

While four Palestinians were injured in the attack, a barrack was set on fire.

A written statement by the Palestinian Health Ministry said that two of the four Palestinians injured in the attack had fractures on their faces, and their health conditions remained serious. The wounded were taken to the Qalqilya State Hospital.

During the clash between Jewish settlers, Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in the town of Kobar, north of Ramallah, one Palestinian was slightly injured due to a stone hitting his face, according to eyewitnesses.

Tensions have risen in the West Bank since the beginning of the year due to raids by Israeli forces and attacks by Jewish settlers.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 218 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem face the threat of eviction.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, along with the entire West Bank, during the 1967 Middle East War. It formally annexed the city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.