Description

Photo:
Armed settlers overlook a Palestinian village south of Nablus during confrontations following the setting on fire of Palestinian-owned fields on Jan. 1, 2010. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh, File)
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Photo:
Armed settlers overlook a Palestinian village south of Nablus during confrontations following the setting on fire of Palestinian-owned fields on Jan. 1, 2010. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh, File)
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NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers on Friday attempted to attack the home of a Palestinian teen who was shot after allegedly attempting to attack the illegal Yitzhar settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that dozens of settlers gathered near the Palestinian residence in the town of Madama near Nablus and attempted to attack the home, but were stopped by dozens of locals.

The home belonged to Istabraq Ahmad Noor, 15, who was shot on Wednesday after Israeli forces claimed she was planning to sneak into the Yitzhar settlement to stab residents inside.

Daghlas told Ma'an that a stand-off between Madama locals and Israeli settlers lasted nearly an hour, where they threw rocks at each other until the group of settlers retreated.

Palestinian Popular Struggle Front central committee member Munadel Haniye told Ma'an that dozens of Israeli settlers also attempted to storm the Beit Furik checkpoint in Nablus and attack residents in the village.

Israeli forces closed the checkpoint for over an hour to prevent their entrance, he added.

The Yizhar settlement where Noor was shot Wednesday has gained notoriety among both Israelis and Palestinians as a bastion of extremists and its Israeli residents regularly carry out attacks on Palestinians and their property.

Last week, settlers from the Yitzhar settlement threw stones at locals picking olives in the Nablus-area village of Burin, injuring four Palestinians. Dozens of acres of Palestinian agricultural land was also burned.

While Israeli settlers regularly carry out attacks on Palestinian locals, attack exchanges have increased throughout the occupied West Bank between Israeli settlers and Palestinians since two settlers were shot dead by Palestinian gunmen on Oct. 1.

A former senior officer in the Israeli army, Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, said Thursday in a court hearing that settler violence fuels attacks by Palestinians, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

“Some of the motivation of the Palestinians to carry out terror attacks is due to the violence of right-wing elements in the West Bank,” Haaretz quoted the officer as saying.

As revenge attacks continue, some Palestinian communities in the occupied territory have formed voluntary groups to guard communities against settler attacks.

Last week Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer for Palestine to the UN, asked the UN Security Council to intervene in order to stop aggression by settlers, including the implementation of a measure to disarm settlers.