By Aysar Alais
JERUSALEM (AA) - A Palestinian man was seriously wounded after illegal Israeli settlers opened fire on his vehicle south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian media on Thursday.
The attack came amid a marked rise in illegal settler violence and raids by the Israeli army in the Palestinian towns during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started last week.
A group of armed settlers chased a vehicle carrying several Palestinians near the Umm Qussa area in the Masafer Yatta region, south of Hebron, the official news agency Wafa reported.
The illegal settlers opened fire on the vehicle, critically wounding a 35-year-old Palestinian man, Wafa said, describing his condition as “critical.”
Israeli forces later raided the area and detained the other passengers before releasing them, and handed the wounded man over to Palestinian Red Crescent crews, the agency added.
After the attack, illegal settlers also seized the vehicle and withdrew toward a settlement outpost built on Palestinian land in the Khirbet Khashm al-Daraj area, Wafa said.
In a statement, the Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed that its teams received the wounded man from Israeli forces following the settler attack, saying he was in “very critical” condition after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds to the head, hand and leg, and was transferred to a hospital for treatment.
Since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 8, 2023, Israeli forces and illegal settlers have intensified operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Those operations have included killings, arrests, property destruction, home demolitions, displacement and settlement expansion.
The assaults have killed at least 1,117 Palestinians, wounded about 11,500 others and led to the arrest of nearly 22,000 people, according to Palestinian figures.
Palestinians warn that the escalation paves the way for Israel to formally annex the West Bank, which would end prospects for an independent Palestinian state envisioned in United Nations resolutions.
The international community and the UN regard the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as occupied Palestinian territory and consider Israeli settlements there illegal under international law.
*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul