Washington (QNN)- The US State Department on Thursday spoke out against a violent attack by extremist Israeli settlers on a Palestinian village in the West Bank earlier this week that injured at least 12 people, including a 3-year-old toddler.
“The US government strongly condemns the acts of settler violence that took place against Palestinians in villages near Hebron in the West Bank on September 28,” a State Department official said in a statement distributed to journalists who requested comment on the matter.
On Tuesday afternoon, several Palestinians were injured and suffered from tear gas inhalation in an attack by Israeli settlers in al-Mufaqara village in Masafer Yatta, south of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
Palestinian residents of al-Mufaqara were shocked to see a mob of almost 80 to 100 Israeli masked settlers attacking them and smashing their homes’ glass windows with stones and slashing their vehicles’ tyres.
In videos from the scene, Israeli settlers can be seen breaking Palestinian car windows and hurling stones at Palestinian homes in the small Palestinian shepherding village of al-Mufaqara, a cluster of homes that straddles two illegal Israeli West Bank outposts, Avigayil and Havat Maon.
At least 12 were injured, including a three-year-old toddler who was injured in the head when an Israeli settler threw a stone at him while he was asleep inside his home, Haaretz reported.
The child was hospitalised to Soroka Medical Center in the Negev, and his condition remains moderate.
Israeli forces, following the attack, arrested two elderly Palestinians, Naim Shehadeh al-Hamamda, aged 62, and Suleiman Eid Al-Hathaleen, aged 75.
The masked settlers have damaged 10 Palestinian vehicles, a water tank and broken windows on a number of homes.
The Israeli forces also fired tear gas and stun grenades at Palestinians.
شاهد| مراسلنا: "لحظة اعتداء المستوطنين على قرية المفقرة بمسافر يطا، قبل قليل". pic.twitter.com/TneKCs2KOX
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) September 28, 2021
Photos | Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in the village of al-Mafqara in Masafer Yatta area to the south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, injuring several citizens and causing material damages to their properties.#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/KBOZeNqRTS
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 28, 2021
شاهد| مراسلنا: "مستوطنون يعتدون على الفلسطينيين في قرية المفقرة بمسافر يطا". pic.twitter.com/mtcHpLU7JP
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) September 28, 2021
Israeli settlers have recently built a sheep farm in the area and have been harassing Palestinian shepherds and their sheep grazing nearby.
Since then, the situation has heated up, as they started pasturing on private land right in front of people’s houses, the residents have said.
Al-Mufaqara village is a part of Masafer Yatta, a collection of almost 19 hamlets that rely heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood and located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli administrative and military control.
Home demolitions, confiscation of the most basic infrastructure, military training exercises, and settlers attacks are part of everyday reality in the area, forcing many to live in natural caves, as they vow to stay in Masafer Yatta no matter what the obstacles.
In many Palestinian communities located in Area C of the West Bank under full Israeli military control, Israeli-designated “firing zones” or “closed military zones” are forbidden for Palestinians to live on without permission from the Israeli occupation authorities, which is rarely granted.
There are nearly 700,000 Israeli settlers living in 256 illegal settlements and outposts scattered across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.