Illegal Israeli settlers continue attacking Palestinian communities in West Bank

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Illegal Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian communities in the southern and central West Bank on Monday, assaulting residents and damaging their homes and properties, locals said.


Naser Nawajaa, an activist from the Palestinian community of Susya, located in the southern Hebron governorate, told Anadolu that illegal settlers raided the area east of Yatta, smashing vehicle windows and puncturing several drinking water tanks.


The Israeli authorities prohibit construction in Susya, which sits next to an Israeli settlement of the same name, established on village land in 1983. The roughly 250 Palestinian residents live in caves and makeshift tin shelters, most of which face demolition orders, including a school made of portable classrooms.


In a statement, Hasan Melihat of the non-governmental Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights said that illegal settlers also stormed the Arab al-Melihat community, located northwest of Jericho.


He reported that illegal settlers emptied residents’ water tanks and destroyed livestock feed. Melihat described the attack as part of ongoing harassment aimed at imposing new settlement realities on the ground.


According to the Palestinian government-run Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israeli settlers carried out 375 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank last January.