In the incident, five Palestinians were hurt, one of them was shot in the head and is in a critical condition.
In the most recent attack against farmers in the occupied West Bank, large groups of Israeli settlers assaulted and injured Palestinians while setting their vehicles on fire.
In the center of the West Bank, between Turmus Ayya and al-Mughayyir villages, Palestinians were reportedly attacked by settlers from the illegal Adei Ad colony, northeast of Ramallah.
Farmers were attacked by settlers who fired shots and threw stones, injuring at least five individuals. One of the casualties was shot in the head by Israeli troops who were with the settlers, and is currently in a critical condition.
Marzouq Abu Naim, a counselor at al-Mughayyir village, claims that five cars and about 270 bales of hay that were parked along the edge of the fields were set on fire.
According to Abu Naim, Israeli forces stormed the region “to provide protection for the settlers,” which resulted in fights between young men and soldiers.
Al-Mughayyir village council president Amin Abu Alia claimed that “settlers used live bullets, stones, and sticks” in the attack.
He continued, “The Israeli army intervened to protect the settlers, firing teargas canisters at the Palestinian farmers.”.
According to Abu Alia, the Israeli military has blocked the two main entrances to al-Mughayyir, which has been repeatedly attacked by settlers over the years, for two weeks, requiring residents to travel long, bumpy roads to their workplaces.
On Thursday, Israeli powers captured two Palestinians from al-Mughayyir town.
The European Association Appointment to the Palestinians said it was “horrified” by the pioneer assaults.
“The EU censures pioneer brutality and approaches Israel to find unequivocal ways to guarantee responsibility and safeguard the Palestinian regular citizen populace in accordance with its commitments under worldwide regulation,” it said in a Tweet.
UN human rights experts say that while Israeli settler violence against Palestinians is common in the West Bank, it has increased at an alarming rate in recent years.
UN statistics indicate that settler attacks have increased annually since 2016, with at least 849 attacks in 2022, 228 of which resulted in casualties.
Human rights groups have previously alleged that Israeli authorities permit settler violence, fail to prosecute those responsible, and fail to protect Palestinians.
Last year, UN experts stated, “Armed and masked Israeli settlers are terrorizing entire communities with complete impunity, attacking Palestinians in their homes, attacking children on their way to school, destroying property and burning olive groves, and terrorizing Palestinians in their homes.”
They added, “It is difficult to distinguish between Israeli settler violence and state violence due to disturbing evidence of Israeli forces frequently facilitating, supporting, and participating in settler attacks.”
In direct contravention of international law, more than 250 settlements and outposts in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are home to nearly 700,000 settlers.
