Description

Operation Dove report:

At Tuwani – On the afternoon of March 21, two settlers attacked two Palestinian girls, throwing stones to them and injuring a six years old child.

At around 3.20 pm, three Palestinian girls were collecting some herbs for family’s livestock in the nearby of the Palestinian village of Tuba. Two masked settlers coming from the Israeli illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on ran after the girls and threw stones to them, hitting a six years old child in the head and leg. The stones injured the little girl that was treated at the scene by an Israeli military doctor, almost two hours later. The little girl and his uncle went to Kyriat Arba police station in order to make a complaint against the settlers. Then the wounded girl was taken in the local medical clinic of Yatta where she was treated with four stitches to the wound on her head.

Palestinian residents of the South Hebron hills have suffered from the presence of Israeli settlers since the 70s. By occupying Palestinian agricultural lands and destroying Palestinian olive trees, crops and property the settlers seek to deprive the Palestinians of their main livelihood. Ongoing settler violence deprives Palestinian families of security in daily life, and restricts their freedom of movement.

On the same day, groups of settlers walked through Palestinian lands in this area, harassing shepherds and international volunteers during all day long.

Twelve days ago, three masked settler children coming from the same illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on, threw stones towards Palestinians children that were collecting herbs in Meshaha Valley, not so far from where the Palestinian girls were attacked. Four years ago, on the same day, the father of the little girl injured was stabbed by an Havat Ma’on settler in his arm and stomach while he was going to the village of At-Tuwani.

Despite attempts by settlers to force them from the area through violence and intimidation, the Palestinian communities of the South Hebron Hills remain strong in their commitment to nonviolent popular resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Pictures of the incident:
For further information: Operation Dove, 054 99 25 773


[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

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HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Masked Israeli settlers from the settlement of Ma'on south of Hebron threw stones at a group of Palestinians injuring a six-year-old child on Saturday.

The child sustained a head injury and was taken to the nearest hospital for medical treatment, according to witnesses.

An Israeli army spokeswoman did not have any immediate information but told Ma'an she was looking into the incident.

Settlers routinely carry out acts of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank but are rarely held accountable, as Israeli authorities are often complicit in the attacks on Palestinians, their property and their lands, according to Israeli human rights organization B'tselem.

There were at least 329 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in 2014, as reported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The Ma'on settlement, home of the child's attackers, is located in the South Hebron Hills, an area witness to ongoing tensions between Palestinian residents and settlers who reside there illegally according to international law.

Saturday's incident occurred as recently reelected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces international criticism for openly denying the possibility of an independent Palestinian state, which he confirmed would never come into fruition if he was reelected.

Netanyahu's Likud party garnered significant support from the right wing and settlement bloc, and critics argue Netanyahu's policies encourage and facilitate rapid expansion of settlements and their protection.