Description

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Two Palestinian children were injured on Thursday afternoon after a group of Israeli settlers attacked them near the village of Beit Furik east of Nablus, the children said.

Musab Fouad Khatatba, 11, and Amir Mohammed Saleh, 11, suffered moderate injuries as a result of the attack, which they said was carried out by settlers from the nearby Jewish settlement of Itamar.

Musab Khatatba said that the settlers attacked him with sticks and struck his head, face, and back during the attack, which occurred after the group had detained him and his friend just east of the village.

He said that the settlers forcibly brought them to Itamar, where they handed them over to Israeli authorities.

They were subsequently handed over to a Palestinian official liaison, who transferred them to the Rafidia government hospital west of Nablus for treatment.

Clashes later erupted between settlers and dozens of young men in the village.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said she had no information regarding the incident.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank is systematic and ignored by Israeli authorities, who rarely intervene in the violent attacks or prosecute the perpetrators.

In 2013, there were 399 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.