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More Israeli settler attacks on West Bank Palestinians [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-04-05

Following a brutal start to March, West Bank Palestinians are seeing more and more early spring Israeli military backed settler violence raining down upon them.

Here are more reports from in and around Umm al-Khair, Hebron primarily by Veterans for Peace Chapter 61, St Louis and the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, with assistance from online sources.

March 18

Settlers attacked 4 Palestinians. A father protecting his kids was severely beaten and taken directly to the hospital. The kids are zip-tied and arrested.

Food donated by the Hebron International Resource Network to Umm al-Khair.

We listened to the sound of jets overhead all night long as they carpet bombed tent encampments in Gaza

March 24

Susiya attack tonight by settlers. Activist car was damaged severely. Palestinians were arrested, including two recent Oscar recipients. No settlers were detained or even questioned.

Tonight, over a dozen Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Susiya, Masafer Yatta, injuring people and destroying property. The group of assailants arrived with batons, knives, and at least one assault rifle; many were also masked. Five Jewish American activists responded to the scene to document the attack and they were violently assaulted by the settlers, who also used rocks to smash their car with the activists inside. During the attack, Hamdan Ballal, one of the Palestinian co-directors of the 2025 Oscar-winning film about Masafer Yatta, No Other Land, was injured and detained by the Israeli army, along with another Palestinian in Susiya.

Key facts:

- At approximately 6 PM (18:00) on Monday, March 24, 2025, an Israeli settler was shepherding right next to a Palestinian home in Susiya and was provoking residents. The residents of Susiya told him to leave and then dozens of settlers, many of whom were masked with some carrying weapons including batons, knives, and an assault rifle, arrived and attacked two homes, destroyed water tanks, and stole security cameras.

- Five Jewish activists (all of whom are US citizens, and one of which is also Canadian resident), who are participating in a three-month long coresistance project in Masafer Yatta with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, responded to calls to come and support the village of Susiya while it was under attack. As they arrived to Susiya, the settlers attacked the activists. When the activists returned to their car to seek shelter, the settlers surrounded the car, slashed its tires, and smashed the windows with stones.

- Hamdan Ballal was injured by settlers during the attack. While he was being treated for injuries to his head (including swelling and bleeding) by paramedics in their ambulance, soldiers came and took him and another Palestinian man from Susiya without sharing information about where they were going or the detainee conditions.

- At least two of the settlers were identified as residents of the nearby settlement of Havat Ma’on.

- Israeli settler violence in the West Bank has grown even more dangerous as the Israeli far right gains more power and control over the occupied West Bank. These attacks are designed to try and force Palestinians off their land.

- Local and international activists regularly document the actions of settlers carrying out similar attacks, often calling the police for some sort of recourse, but settlers are rarely, if ever, held accountable for their crimes.

Credits to the Center for Jewish Nonviolence and Anna Lippman for responding to and documenting the attack and damage.

March 25

The three arrested Palestinians were released from Kiryat Arba police station

March 28

Settlers beat up Palestinian shepherd near Jenbah. His severe injures required care from paramedics.

There was a massive attack in Jinba. The army arrested 26 men from the village, at least 5 Palestinian villagers were injured and several of them needed ambulance evacuation.

March 30

The pogrom in Jinba continues with Israeli army support. We hear from people that they are being locked inside their homes. Sheep are being released from enclosures. It's bad

Settler family walking right thru the middle of the community center an hour ago.

Army does the usual nothing

"Israeli settler militias have wrought havoc after raiding and vandalizing a school in the village of Jinba in Masafer Yatta region, south of Hebron."

March 31

As Israel continues to use Palestinians hostages, the conditions in Masafer Yatta deteriorate.

The latest attack by settlers and soldiers in the village of Jinba was many times more serious than the attack in Susiya, a few days earlier, that was widely reported, because it happened that one of the wounded and arrested there was Hamdan Balal, a co-creator of No Other Land. Grasping the seriousness of what happened in Jinba during Friday and Saturday, Haaretz Daily reported on the Jinba attack in a front page piece and editorial.

Meanwhile, the 5 entrances to Yatta were being blocked by the army using Palestinian cars that were trying to pass. The Army strategically placed the cars blocking the entrances, took the keys and disappeared. A family of 4 was left for over 12 hours waiting for their keys. They hadn't eaten all day and this is the celebration of Eid al Fitr, the end of Ramadan, A joyous holiday. The sun was long set and temperatures dropped before any sign of an army return appeared.

April 1

The Commanding Officer of the Israeli Defense Forces Central Command, MG Avi Bluth, concluded the Jinba operation was a serious incident in which Israeli forces behaved in ways that contradict the professional and ethical standards expected of IDF soldiers.

And attacks on Palestinians continue.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that dozens of settlers descended onto the Palestinian village of Duma, in the northern West Bank, attacking civilian homes and setting fire to some of them.

x 🚨 BREAKING: Dozens of Israeli settlers carried out a pogrom in the village of Duma, near Nablus in the West Bank, setting Palestinian homes and vehicles on fire. Two people were reported injured after their house was set ablaze. pic.twitter.com/ZqOqRjstQE — Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) April 1, 2025

Settlers are conducting attacks all over the West Bank now. Burning houses and olive groves, destroying private and community property (such as schools) and injuring people. Reports are coming in from several sources and locations.

In Umm al-Khair this evening, 20 shepherds gathered nearby. With the situation so tense, police were called, but they did nothing

That is where the latest reports end. We await more from our friends in the West Bank, and work for peaceful resolution respecting human rights and sovereignty.

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