Description

Photo:
Footage of a masked Israeli settler desecrating Quran books outside a Mosque in Urif, the West Bank, on Wednesday. Published by Haaretz

Burnt school in Palestinian village of Urif in the West Bank, Thursday. Published by Haaretz

The settlement outpost established near the West Bank town of Sinjal, Thursday. Credit: Peace Now Published by Haaretz
___

by Jack Khoury for Haaretz
Jun 22, 2023 9:15 pm IDT

Newly released footage on Thursday shows Israeli settlers vandalizing a West Bank mosque in the Palestinian village of Urif during a rampage the previous day. The masked settlers, accompanied by a dog, are seen leaving the mosque; one of them tears apart a Quran in the street outside the mosque.

"The settlers' assaults continue with no effort by the army to stop them," The Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din said. "The shocking footage demonstrates that the settlers' sole purpose is to incite a riot by committing organized pogroms."

During the rampage, settlers also set fire to a school and attempted to set fire to homes and the mosque as well, residents said, and indicated that the settlers had entered the village from the direction of the Yitzhar settlement.

The two assailants who carried out a terrorist shooting in the settlement of Eli on Tuesday, killing four Israelis, lived in the village.

In addition to the Urif rampage on Wednesday, dozens of Jewish settlers, some armed, set fire to houses and vehicles in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya on Wednesday, Israeli security sources said.

After the rampage in Turmus Ayya, clashes broke out between security forces and Palestinians. The Palestinian Health Ministry announced that one person, 27-year-old Omar Ketin, had been shot dead.

Earlier on Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides condemned the latest riots by settlers in the West Bank, saying that Washington would not stand idly by and watch the settler violence of recent days. He added that the U.S. is encouraging Israel and its security agencies to take the necessary steps to prevent such violent incidents.
____

Settlers Burn Palestinian School, Try to Torch a Mosque in Shooters' West Bank Village

The mayor claims that settlers also cut off power in the village, where the terrorists who committed the attack near Eli resided

by Hagar Shezaf for Haaretz
Jun 22, 2023 3:42 pm IDT

Settlers set fire to a school in the West Bank village of Urif early Thursday morning and attempted to set fire to homes and a mosque as well, residents said, after coming from the direction of the Yitzhar settlement. The two assailants who carried out the terrorist shooting in the settlement of Eli on Tuesday, killing four Israelis, hailed from the village.

Concurrently, settlers established a new outpost near the village of Sinjal, in the area where Tuesday's shooting occurred.

The residents noted that power went out in Urif overnight, blaming the settlers. The village's mayor, Mazen Shehadeh, told Haaretz that the electricity went off at 1 A.M. "We have a holiday coming up, there are businesses and people have food spoiling in the fridge,” he said, referring to Eid al-Adha.

Shehadeh said that due to the deadly attack in Eli, entry permits to Israel were revoked for anyone with the same last names as the terrorists, even if they are not closely related. “These are large families. The whole village consists of three families, and these are two of them. This is collective punishment,” he said.

According to a security source, when an Israel Electric Corporation technician arrived, he saw that the village’s electric panel was vandalized. The technician fixed the damage, restoring power to Urif.

A security source said that on Wednesday night, clashes broke out between settlers who made their way to Urif and local Palestinians. The two groups hurled stones at each other, resulting in three wounded Israelis.

On Wednesday afternoon, some 200 settlers, some armed, set fire to homes and vehicles in the Palestinian village of Turmus Aya in the central West Bank, and torched farmland on the outskirts of the village. Security sources estimated that some 15 homes were damaged by the arson and rock throwing in Turmus Aya, and some 30 cars were burned.

Local residents told Haaretz that the IDF did nothing to stop the violence, and only arrived in the village after the settlers left. Thus far, no arrests have been made in connection with the incident. Following the settlers’ departure from the village, clashes broke out between police and Palestinians, in which one resident was killed by police gunfire.

On Thursday, the chairman of the Knesset’s Law, Constitution and Justice Committee, MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism), compared the settler riots to the anti-judicial overhaul protesters who have blocked roads. In an interview with Army Radio, Rothman expressed bewilderment at the criticism against the settlers who set fire to Palestinian homes and property, saying that “suddenly, the opponents of the reform have apparently resumed believing that public order should be enforced.”

He continued, “Apparently blocking roads and lighting bonfires on [the Ayalon highway] is okay, because it’s a certain kind of people… But when it’s the Druze in the north, or settlers protesting a murder that happened on their doorstep, it’s serious.”

He asked interviewer Razi Barkai: “Why do you think that there are people who are allowed [to protest], and then there are second class citizens? If you’re protesting the reasonableness standard or a spot on the Judicial Appointments Committee, then you can call to take up arms, you can be violent, talk about war, about civil disobedience… You can do anything. But if you’re protesting a little, tiny issue like four people getting murdered, you can't.”

Features