Shafaqna Pakistan: Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked homes around the occupied West Bank village of Qusra on Saturday, marking the first major assault since a settler siege in the area earlier this month triggered international condemnation.
Witnesses told Reuters that the settlers surrounded a Palestinian home and hurled stones at it while seven Palestinians remained trapped inside.
Saddam Oday, one of those inside, said Israeli forces fired tear gas into the house and detained the residents, although he was later released. He claimed that the military did not detain any of the settlers and instead allowed them to leave the area.
Luay Bayruti, the owner of the house, said Israeli forces handcuffed, blindfolded and assaulted those inside after arriving at the scene before eventually releasing them.
The Israeli military said in a statement that troops and border police forces had arrived on the scene to remove “rioters”, and protect the residents inside the house.
The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why they had reportedly fired tear gas at the house and detained and beaten the residents.
RESIDENT REPORTS NEAR-DAILY ENCROACHMENTS
Bayruti said that after calling the Israeli military for help, he and six others were trapped inside the home for more than an hour as settlers threw stones.
Bayruti showed a Reuters reporter his bandaged arm, which he said had been injured by a stone during the attack.
Oday, a medic, said four of those trapped had suffered injuries due to the tear gas, and two had suffered injuries from the stones thrown by settlers.
The attack occurred a few hundred yards away from three homes to which settlers laid siege this month, drawing international condemnation and a massive Israeli military deployment that residents say has kept them effectively trapped in their homes.
“They spotted the residents working on their house, which is still under construction and they started throwing rocks,” said Loui Ridi, a Palestinian-American whose home was one of the three under siege this month. He said he watched Saturday’s attack occur from his home.
Ridi said he had seen near-daily encroachments of Israeli settlers into the area surrounding his home, despite the heavy Israeli military presence in the area.
Source: Dunya News
