Description

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Three people were injured by settlers on Thursday in the northern West Bank village of Yanun, a PA official said.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that settlers threw rocks and physically assaulted villagers who were tending their land in Nablus.

Five villagers were arrested by Israeli forces and taken to an unknown destination, Daghlas said.

The army also fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the villagers, in support of the settlers, who were trying to prevent the villagers from accessing their land, he added.

An Israeli army spokesman said that a clash occurred when Israeli civilians and Palestinians had gathered on a hill in the area.

"Initial reports indicated that Palestinians had used clubs and five were arrested," the spokesman said.

Two Israeli civilians were lightly injured, he added.

In 2011, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that settler attacks had increased by 50 percent on the previous year.

Washington-based think tank The Palestine Center found that the Nablus district experienced the majority of settler violence in 2011.

All settlements on occupied Palestinian land are illegal under international law.

______

NABLUS, April 12, 2012 (WAFA) – A number of Palestinian farmers from Yanoun, a village southeast of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, were injured Thursday after they were attacked by a group of Jewish settlers, according to local sources.

They said that settlers, protected by Israeli soldiers, attacked farmers leading to the eruption of clashes and causing various injuries among farmers. Two settlers were also injured.

Settlers have escalated their attacks on the village residents since the beginning of 2012.

T.R./M.S.

______


2 settlers injured in Itamar skirmish

Two Israelis sustained light injuries following attack by Palestinians near West Bank settlement of Itamar; Palestinians claim settlers attacked first

Itamar Fleishman for YNet

Two Israelis sustained light injuries Thursday after they were attacked by Palestinians wielding clubs on Thursday, on Hill 777, near the West Bank settlement of Itamar.

One of the settlers injured in the attack is Matan Fogel, the younger brother of the late Udi Fogel, who was murdered with his wife and three children in the Itamar massacre 13 months ago.

The settlers claim that Fogel and the second victim were herding sheep when the Palestinians began throwing rocks at them. According to the settlers, the two were also beaten with clubs.

The two further claimed that the Palestinians then tried to steal their weapons.

At first the two refused to be taken to hospital but were then convinced to do so by the Magen David Adom team that was sent to the scene.

This was the second time in the last week that Israeli shepherds have come under attack in the area. It is believed the attack ensued the entry of Palestinians to a restricted area in Harish.

Meanwhile, Palestinians are claiming that the settlers were the ones who attacked. They said that three Palestinians were wounded and five were arrested after settlers attacked them as they were carrying out farm work in Kfar Yanoun near Itamar.

An official within the Office of the West Bank settlements in the Palestinian Authority stated that the Palestinians were working in their fields in Kfar Yanoun when the settlers assaulted them in an attempt to prevent them from completing their work as their lands are adjacent to Itamar.

He noted that three Palestinians and several settlers were injured.