UPDATE - Illegal Israeli settlers injure 7 Palestinians, burn property in West Bank attack

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By Awad Rajoob and Mohammad Sio

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Illegal Israeli settlers carried out attacks Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, injuring seven Palestinians, burning and seizing property, and destroying crops, according to sources.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that its Nablus crews transported three victims to the hospital following the assault.

The injured included a 35-year-old man who was shot in the foot with live fire; a man, 40 struck by live bullet shrapnel in his hand and eye and an 18-year-old hit with a rubber bullet in the eye.

Palestine TV, a government-run outlet, reported that illegal settlers fired live rounds, torched two farms and burned three vehicles during the attack.

The head of the Duma village council in the West Bank, Suleiman Dawabsheh, told Anadolu that more than 300 armed settlers stormed the western edge of the town and targeted homes.

He noted that Duma, home to 3,500 residents, is encircled by settlements and settler roads, isolating it from other Palestinian towns.

While the assault had ended, Dawabsheh expressed fears of renewed attacks amid reports of settler calls to gather in the western area of the village.

In a separate incident, the non-governmental al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin reported that illegal settlers injured four Palestinians near Jericho in the eastern West Bank and seized the Al-Auja water spring.

It said illegal settlers, backed by Israeli forces, attacked residents at the spring in northern Jericho, spraying them with burning pepper spray and beating others, resulting in four injuries of varying severity.

“The Al-Auja Spring has faced repeated settler attacks, with several outposts established around it over years to control the land and water, blocking citizens’ access,” it said.

Illegal armed settler groups later took over the spring’s channel, preventing Bedouin residents from accessing drinking water or watering livestock.

Further north in the Jordan Valley, the organization reported that illegal armed settlers released their cattle to graze on 400 dunums (40 hectares) of Palestinian wheat fields in Bardala village, destroying the crop.

“Settlers have intensified attacks on Bedouins in the Jordan Valley, severely exacerbating daily life challenges,” it added.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank, where more than 940 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the Gaza onslaught on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.