Israeli settlers shoot, wound two Palestinians in West Bank
The Hindu
Palestinian health officials say Israeli settlers have shot and seriously wounded two Palestinians in the northern occupied West Bank, in what officials describe as the latest incident in a wave of settler violence
Israeli settlers shot and seriously wounded two Palestinians in the northern occupied West Bank early on Friday, Palestinian health officials said, in what authorities describe as the latest incident in a wave of settler violence.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the two wounded Palestinians were being treated at a hospital in the village of Qusra, near the West Bank city of Nablus. It did not identify the men.
A group of armed settlers from a nearby outpost descended on the village and Palestinians went into the street to see what was happening late on Thursday, said Ghassan Douglas, the Palestinian official who monitors Israeli settlements in the Nablus region. One of the settlers opened fire at the residents, hitting one man in the stomach and another in the thigh. Douglas said the shooting was unprovoked.
The Israeli Army said soldiers arrived to disperse the confrontation. It said it was aware Palestinians were evacuated to a hospital with gunshot wounds. Israeli police said they were investigating.
The northern West Bank in particular has seen a surge of settler attacks. Many villages in the area have gradually become sandwiched between settlements and unauthorised outposts that house particularly ideological settlers.
Last month, leading Israeli human rights group B'Tselem recorded a string of incidents near Nablus — from settlers attacking Palestinians with stones in Qusra to torching Palestinian cars in Aqraba. Earlier this month, a settler shot and killed a Palestinian in the farming town of Salfit.