Israeli settlers attack foreign activists and Palestinian farmers in the West Bank

CNN — Jerusalem (CNN) — Masked Israeli settlers attacked a group of Palestinian farmers and foreign activists who were accompanying them for protection in the West Bank town of Qusra on Sunday, according to victims of the attack and videos obtained by CNN.

Eight activists took part in a grassroots Palestinian campaign called “Defend Palestine,” which calls on international volunteers to travel to the Israeli-occupied West Bank to protect Palestinians from attacks by Israeli settlers.

Two Americans and a German citizen were hospitalized with suspected broken bones after the attack, the campaign said. Another American volunteer suffered minor injuries. One of the Palestinian farmers was hospitalized.

Three of the foreign victims, Vivi Chen, David Hummel and Jedda, who declined to give his last name, spoke to CNN about the attack from a hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus where they were being treated.

They said they had accompanied Palestinian farmers to their olive fields, which they had been banned from entering since October because of attacks by Israeli settlers. At one point, the group was approached on a hill by several young settlers.

“They stood there for a while and then came to our group of international volunteers and started hitting us with these thick wooden sticks, almost like baseball bats,” Chen said.

Video footage of the activists can be seen trying to flee the attack. One of them immediately falls to the ground, another tries to protect himself with his arms when he is hit, and at least one is kicked in the leg and hit with a stone by an attacker.

One woman fell down the hill and was hit by a rock. The settlers then “smashed her phone and she lost her documents and cards,” Chen told CNN.

“We didn’t do anything,” Hummel said. “Our hands were up and we backed away and tried to protect each other. At some point we tried to keep backing away because we had been hit so many times.”

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 war and soon began settling Jews in the land. Currently, more than 700,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank. However, the international community considers the territory occupied and Israeli settlements there illegal. The Palestinians want the territory for a future independent state.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the United Nations, declared on Friday that Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem was illegal. In an unprecedented ruling, it called on Israel to end its occupation. It also ordered Israel to stop settlement activity, evacuate settlers and compensate for the damage caused.

“Urgent need” for international protection

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the attack on Sunday, saying in a brief statement to CNN that “several masked Israeli civilians attacked a group of foreign citizens while they were planting trees in the area.”

The Israel Defense Forces said they condemned any violence. They added that their soldiers had been sent to the scene and that they were maintaining security in their area of ​​responsibility. They added that soldiers had been sent to the scene and fired warning shots in the air, after which the attackers fled.

However, activists said that when the soldiers arrived, they immediately pointed their weapons at a Palestinian accompanying the volunteers and fired shots in his direction.

“He was our friend and everyone was shouting, ‘No, no! He is our friend, he is our friend!’ And they shot at him with live ammunition,” the activists said. The Israeli military did not respond to CNN’s question about the alleged attack on the Palestinian volunteer.

The injured activists were taken to a hospital in Nablus for treatment by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Pictures taken at the hospital showed the victims with numerous cuts and bruises all over their bodies. The face of German activist Hummel was badly swollen on the right side.

Mohammed Khatib, organizer of the Defend Palestine campaign, said: “Today’s attack, less than 24 hours after the ICJ ruled that the Israeli occupation is illegal and settlers enjoy impunity for committing violence, is further proof of the urgent need for international civil protection in Palestine.”

Chen said the group did not expect violence but was aware of “settler violence” against Palestinians.

“Our injuries are very minor compared to what Palestinians suffer every day,” she said.

Sunday’s attack followed another attack on Saturday in the West Bank south of Hebron. A video obtained by CNN shows Israeli settlers attacking a Palestinian family with sticks, knocking some of them to the ground before a soldier fires a warning shot and the video ends.

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