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Photo:
Scene. Screenshot. Published by IMEMC News
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by IMEMC News
Jan 14, 2023

On Friday, illegal Israeli colonizers attacked many Palestinians and internationals touring a historic trail near the Al-Awja Palestinian village north of Jericho in the northeastern West Bank, wounding an Italian woman.

Tha’er Njoun, a local human rights activist, said several Palestinians accompanied internationals on the trail before a group of paramilitary colonizers surrounded them.

Njoum added that the colonizers attacked the Palestinians and internationals with batons, causing a fracture to the arm of an Italian woman.

Several Palestinians and internationals suffered bruises and the effects of gas inhalation after the colonizers also maced them with pepper spray.
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Group of Palestinians and Tourists Attacked by Settlers While Hiking in West Bank

The assailants reportedly used pepper spray and batons to attack the hikers, who had to wait two hours before soldiers came to escort them back to their bus

by Hagar Shezaf for Haaretz
Jan 14, 2023 2:12 pm IST

A group of Palestinian and foreign tourists were attacked Friday while on a hike near the village of Mu’arajat near Jericho in the West Bank, Haaretz has learned.

In a video documenting the event published on social media, several young men who appear to be Jewish settlers are seen waving batons at the group who were hiking in the area.

According to an Israeli security source, the young men also attacked the travelers with pepper spray.

Following the attack, soldiers arrived at the scene and escorted the hikers back to their bus, the source said. So far, no one has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack.

Samira, an Italian citizen who participated in the tour, told Haaretz that three of the hikers who were attacked were taken to the hospital and released with bruises. According to her, the group included about 41 participants, including Palestinians, Americans, French and Italians. She added that there were about six settlers at the scene of the attack, who she said “looked very young.”

“We started walking at 9 a.m. and walked down the mountains toward the end of the wadi, where a bus was waiting for us,” Samira said. “When we were nearing the end, settlers arrived with batons and pepper spray. They prevented us from continuing to walk and started attacking us.”

She said that she was beaten on her arm with a baton when she was taking pictures of the incident. After the attack, the group climbed back up the mountain and waited for about two hours while they contacted the various embassies and the Palestinian police, until finally soldiers arrived and escorted them to the bus.