Agencies-Gaza post
Israeli settlers assault protest in Masafer Yatta, wounds reported
Israeli settlers on Friday assaulted a protest against the imminent forcible removal of Masafer Yatta villages in the Hebron neighborhood, leading to injuries, according to local sources.
Mashhour al-Wahwah, the WAFA cameraman, reported that herds of settlers, under military protection, assaulted international activists experiencing the protest and journalists covering it, and hurled stones at their cars, injuring al-Wahwah himself, a Palestine TV photojournalist in expansion to a number of activists.
Over a hundred Palestinians, Israelis, and international activists, including Jews from US and UK, participated in the rally demanding the opening of a street that has recently been blocked by settlers.
Rateb Jabour, the coordinator of the National and Popular Anti-Wall and Settlement Committees, stated that Israeli soldiers violently cracked down on the participants who nonviolently marched in the area and attempted to reopen the road, releasing barrages of teargas and concussion grenades at them.
He added that the forces assaulted many demonstrations with batons and pepper spray and detained two international activists.
In early May, Israel’s top court gave the army the green light to forcibly evict some 1,300 Palestinians living in twelve villages making up the Masafer Yatta region, which depends heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood, marking one of the largest expulsions carried out by the State of Israel in recent decades.
Located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli administrative and military control, the area has been subjected to repeated Israeli violations by settlers and soldiers targeting their main source of living – livestock.
It has been designated as a closed Israeli military zone for training since the 1980s and is accordingly referred to as Firing Zone 918.
Israeli attacks against the area include the demolition of animal barns, dwellings, and residential facilities. Issuance of building permits by Israel to local Palestinians in the area is non-existent.
Masafer Yatta mayor, Nidal Younes, said that the court has disregarded all evidence and all the facts and proof offered by the families over the last 22 years showing that they have been permanently living in the area since before the 1980s.
