Settlers erect outpost in East Jerusalem, attack Palestinian locals

Four injured, 4 arrested after extremist youths descend on Palestinian hamlet; IDF nabs, then releases Israeli pair suspected of beating Palestinian family in West Bank

Dozens of young Jewish extremists attacked Palestinian villagers on the southeastern outskirts of Jerusalem earlier this week, in a hamlet located within the city’s municipal boundaries, residents and activists said.

The assailants allegedly descended on Nuaman from a new settlement outpost erected in late March. Tents were put up a short distance from the village, whose roughly 150 inhabitants are classified as West Bank residents despite paying taxes to the Jerusalem municipality.

Palestinian locals said that on Sunday, the young men assaulted them with stones and pepper spray while several left-wing Jewish activists were present in the area.

An activist who spoke to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity said that around half an hour prior to the attack, he and other activists approached the outpost and spoke briefly to settler youths residing there. The two groups parted without incident.

Soon after the meeting, though, the young men launched an attack on the Palestinian village, lightly injuring four people.

Sharif Darawi, a resident of the village, told The Times of Israel that settlers followed him into the wooded area surrounding Nuaman and attacked him with stones and pepper spray.

Palestinians threw stones in response to the attackers, the Haaretz daily reported, and clashes between the two groups ensued.

According to testimonies from residents and activists, police arrived at the scene after about half an hour. Officers arrested two Palestinians and two Israelis, police told The Times of Israel.

In response to a request for comment, police said the clashes stemmed from “an ongoing land dispute in the area between Arabs and Jews.”

According to Haaretz, the young men sprayed graffiti throughout the area depicting the Star of David, messages with the word “revenge” and the apparent name of the new outpost — “Homat Yehuda,” Hebrew for “Wall of Judah.”

Some of the youths came from Har Homa, a nearby Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem, while others were from West Bank outposts, the Hebrew daily reported.

Separately, on Monday night in the West Bank, groups of settlers were filmed gathering at intersections near Bethlehem, harassing drivers heading to and from the Palestinian city.

Meanwhile, the IDF said Tuesday morning that it detained two Israeli suspects in what it described as a “friction incident,” after masked individuals were filmed beating a Palestinian family in the Ramallah area in the West Bank the previous day.

According to the army, the suspects were detained and questioned, but later released, with their details transferred to the police.

The IDF did not provide a full response regarding why the suspects were not handed over to the police, as is typically done in such cases.

Authorities were also investigating a vandalism incident that occurred Thursday, in which Israeli citizens were suspected of having burned a communications cabinet belonging to the army in Bat Ayin.

Surrounded by small outposts, the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin is known to be a frequent gathering point for extremists to convene before launching attacks against Palestinians.

The army believes the vandalism was perpetrated in order to hamper authorities’ ability to monitor a route that leads down to a nearby Palestinian village.

The fire left the communications equipment unusable and the damage is estimated at some NIS 200,000 ($64,000).

The West Bank has recently seen a rise in extremist settler violence against Palestinians. Violent attacks by radical elements against Palestinians and civil rights activists seeking to protect them have become a daily occurrence. Prosecutions are rare, and convictions are even rarer.

Critics have accused the government, said to be the most right-wing in Israel’s history, of shrugging off the attacks.

Last month, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir issued a sharp condemnation of settler violence, calling attacks against Palestinian civilians and soldiers in the West Bank “morally and ethically unacceptable” and a major strategic impediment.