At least six Palestinians from the same family were wounded after illegal Israeli settlers beat them and sprayed them with pepper spray in the Huwara community of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said on Friday that its teams treated six wounded Palestinians, including an elderly man, women and children, before transferring them to a hospital.
Osama Makhamreh, an anti-settlement activist, told Anadolu that illegal Israeli settlers attacked the family of 80-year-old Ibrahim Ismail al-Jabour while they were on their land near their home.
Illegal settlers beat the family members and sprayed pepper spray in their faces, injuring the elderly man, several women and children, he said.
The Israeli army provided protection for the illegal settlers before arresting Qassem Ibrahim al-Jabour, Yasser Youssef al-Jabour and Ibrahim Omar al-Jabour, Makhamreh added.
According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal Israeli settlers carried out 3,488 attacks across the West Bank during the first half of this year, killing 17 Palestinians.
Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israeli army and illegal settlers’ attacks in the West Bank have killed 1,179 Palestinians and wounded 12,666 others, in addition to the arrest of around 24,000 people.
Army detains ambulance crews
In a separate development, the Israeli army shot several Palestinians, beat others and detained ambulance crews during an early Friday raid on Al-Mughayyir village in the central occupied West Bank.
Amin Abu Alia, head of the village council in Al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, told Anadolu that Israeli forces raided the village from its eastern side.
He said three Palestinians were shot and taken to a medical centre in the nearby town of Abu Falah.
The army also raided the home of resident Mohammed Hamed Abu Alia and beat those inside, leaving several with bruises and other injuries, Abu Alia said.
Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters at Palestinians who went to support the family.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its teams treated two people, including one wounded in the head and face by shrapnel from a stun grenade and another who had been beaten. Both were transferred to a hospital.
The society also said its teams treated a 60-year-old man who had been shot and transferred him to a hospital.
In a separate statement, the Red Crescent said Israeli forces detained its crews for about two hours before releasing them while they were treating wounded people inside a home in the village. It said Israeli forces also confiscated the ambulance keys.
Army uproots trees, cuts water lines
In a separate incident, the Israeli army uprooted more than 300 trees and cut water lines supplying about 45,000 dunams (4,500 hectares) of agricultural land in the northern Jordan Valley.
The Palestinian Al-Bidar Human Rights Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights said in a statement that the army uprooted more than 300 olive and grape trees and cut water lines supplying farmland in the Al-Baqi'a Plain, east of Atouf village in Tubas province.
The bulldozing was part of work to build a military road and a wall, threatening large areas of farmland and causing extensive damage to farmers, water sources and agricultural resources in the northern Jordan Valley, the group said.
The commission said illegal settlers also uprooted and damaged 23,145 trees during the first half of the year, including 11,383 olive trees.
The developments come amid escalating illegal settler attacks and Israeli military raids across occupied West Bank cities and towns since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023.
