Israeli settler attack injures Palestinian baby, five arrested

Summary

• Five Israeli settlers were arrested for allegedly attacking a Palestinian home, injuring an eight-month-old baby in Sair, West Bank.
• A reservist in civilian clothes rammed a Palestinian man with his vehicle near Ramallah; his service was terminated, and weapon confiscated.
• Settler violence has increased, with October 2023 seeing 264 attacks; over 1,000 Palestinians killed by Israelis in the West Bank since October 7.

JERUSALEM - Israeli security forces announced on Dec 25 the arrest of five Israeli settlers over their alleged involvement in an attack on a Palestinian home that injured a baby girl in the occupied West Bank.

The eight-month-old infant suffered “moderate injuries to the face and head” in the late Dec 24 attack, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

It blamed the attack on “a group of armed settlers”, accusing them of “throwing stones at homes and property” in the town of Sair, north of Hebron.

A statement from the Israeli police said that five suspects had been arrested for their “alleged involvement in serious, violent incidents in the village of Sair”.

Israeli security forces had received reports of “stones being thrown by Israeli civilians towards a Palestinian home”, adding a Palestinian girl was injured.

“The preliminary investigation determined the involvement of several suspects who came from a nearby outpost,” the statement said, referring to Israeli settlements not officially recognised by Israeli authorities.

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by the international community.

Some are also illegal under Israeli law, though many of those are later given official recognition.

Almost none of the perpetrators of previous attacks by settlers have been held to account by the Israeli authorities.

A Telegram group linked to the “Hilltop Youth”, a movement of hardline settlers who advocate direct action against Palestinians, posted a video showing property damage in Sair.

Reservist terminated

In a separate incident on Dec 24, a military reservist dressed in civilian clothes fired his gun in the area of Dayr Jarir near Ramallah, the military said in a statement.

Later, the military received footage showing an armed individual running over a Palestinian individual.

A review determined him to be “the same reserve soldier”, the military said, adding that his weapon was confiscated and his service terminated “due to the severity of the incident”.

In videos on social media purporting to show the incident, the victim is seen praying on the side of a road when the soldier rams him with his vehicle.

Moments later the victim gets up on his feet. The military said it was looking into reports of injuries.

Mr Majdi Abu Mokho, father of the man, said his son now had pain in both legs after he was struck.

“The assailant is a known settler. He set up an outpost near the village, and with other settlers he comes to graze his livestock, blocks the road and provokes the residents,” Mr Mokho told AFP.

He said the settler also blinded him with pepper spray after hitting his son.

More than 500,000 Israelis currently live in settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967 and home to around three million Palestinians.

Violence involving settlers has risen in recent years, according to the United Nations, and October was the worst month since it began recording such incidents in 2006, with 264 attacks that caused casualties or property damage.

The violence in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the Gaza war.

Since the start of the war, Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, including many militants as well as dozens of civilians, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.

According to official Israeli figures, at least 44 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the same period. AFP