Illegal Israeli settlers attack village in northern West Bank

Israeli settlers have attacked the village of Qusra in the southern city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, targeting the homes of Palestinians under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces (IOF), the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

It reported: “The townspeople rushed to repel the attack, which led to clashes with the occupying army and settlers,” in which the army used “live ammunition.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent treated and transported a 29-year-old man to hospital after he was injured in the clashes in Qusra.

In the southern West Bank, anti-settlement activist Arif Jaber told Anadolu that IOF had reinforced units in Palestinian neighborhoods under its occupation. “The occupation forces have expanded widely in the Jaber and Wadi al-Hussein neighborhoods around the Old City of al-Khalil and arrested at least five residents,” he added.

Jaber pointed out that since October 7, most Palestinian neighborhoods in the city center have been under a curfew and that there have been raids, arrest campaigns and the forced relocation of residents.

Israeli settlers suffocate Palestinian shepherds through land theft

Settler violence and aggression against Palestinians has continued since the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza. Last week, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank reported an increase in land thefts by armed Israeli settlers who are setting up temporary pastoral posts and refusing to leave the region.

Shepherds in the occupied West Bank and Jordan Valley face numerous problems, including keeping their sheep in pens while losing access to adjacent pastureland due to violent settlers who have taken over the region, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

Human rights groups have said that Israeli settlers are armed in herding posts and use attack dogs to intimidate Palestinians, which has led to livestock deaths and property damage. To make matters worse, high food prices are depriving these herders of their main source of livelihood.

Due to intimidation by settlers, 18 herder groups have left their homes in the Jordan Valley, according to data released in March by the Israeli organization B’Tselem.