Palestinians injured as Israeli settlers continue attacks on besieged Ras al-Ain area of Qusrae

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian workers and the owners of a house under construction in the besieged Ras al-Ain area west of Qusra, south of Nablus, on Saturday, injuring four people and setting fire to trees and land near the site, local officials told The New Arab.

The attack came as Israeli forces continued to seal off Ras al-Ain and prevent Palestinians from entering or leaving the area, where three Palestinian homes have been subjected to an intensifying siege for more than three weeks.

Ziad Odeh, a member of Qusra municipal council, told The New Arab that settlers assaulted workers who were at the unfinished home alongside its owners, leaving four people with injuries and bruises after they were beaten.

Ambulances were able to enter the area after the attack to evacuate and treat the injured, Odeh said, but Israeli forces prevented them from reaching the assaulted workers.

Around 100 settlers took part in the attack, according to Odeh, who said that Israeli soldiers were stationed nearby "to protect them".

The settlers’ assault was not limited to the house and those inside it. They also set fires in the surrounding area, burning a number of trees and swathes of Palestinian land.

The targeted property lies about 200 metres from three Palestinian homes that have been under siege in Ras al-Ain for roughly two weeks. The Hassan and Abu Raideh families, owners of the homes, have faced mounting restrictions, settler intimidation and isolation from the rest of Qusra.

Palestinian residents attempted to reach the house after settlers attacked the workers and homeowners, seeking to help those trapped inside and evacuate the injured. Israeli forces dispersed the residents, firing live ammunition and stun grenades in their direction, triggering clashes between the residents and Israeli forces.

The latest settler raid comes amid an ongoing Israeli military campaign against Qusra where, for 15 days, Israeli forces have kept the Ras al-Ain hill area entirely closed, declaring it a military zone and preventing Palestinians from moving in and out.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces installed three metal gates in the area, further tightening the blockade on the homes and restricting access to the hill. The closures have coincided with the continuing settler siege of the three homes, now in its 22nd day.

Local officials say the restrictions and repeated settler assaults are aimed at pressuring the families into leaving the area, in what residents describe as an attempt to empty Ras al-Ain of its Palestinian inhabitants.

The Israeli military issued a statement on Saturday in response to the events, saying that they had deployed troops and members of the border police force to Qusra. The announcement acknowledged how settlers had thrown stones at Palestinians and other civilians, and that security forces had removed settlers who had barricaded themselves inside a Palestinian home.

The army added it was aware of reports of Palestinian injuries, including a woman it said was taken for medical treatment, and added that several settlers’ vehicles had been confiscated as part of an investigation.

The military statement did not, however, address Palestinian accounts that Israeli forces blocked ambulances from reaching the injured, fired on residents attempting to assist those under attack, or maintained the closure that has left families in Ras al-Ain isolated for weeks.

Settler attacks continue across West Bank

The events in Qusra were among a series of settler attacks across the northern occupied West Bank on Saturday.

In nearby Jalud, south of Nablus, settlers who have taken over a home belonging to the Tubasi family attacked the family’s parents and members of a foreign press crew who were accompanying them near the property.

Raed al-Hajj Muhammad, head of Jalud village council, told The New Arab that settlers stopped the family and journalists on the road before assaulting them with sticks and sharp objects.

Mahmoud and Aida Tubasi, along with a female journalist and photographer, sustained injuries and bruising across their bodies, before being transported by ambulance to a hospital in Ramallah.

The settlers had previously taken control of two Tubasi family homes on the edge of Jalud after besieging them for two months. For five days during that period, the family said settlers cut electricity and water supplies and prevented residents from obtaining food and medicine.

In another incident on Saturday, two sisters were injured when settlers attacked them while they were picking figs from their land in Silwad, northeast of Ramallah. Palestinian sources said the women, Mona Mahmoud Hamed, 75, and Alia Mahmoud Hamed, 65, were beaten, while settlers also stole their phones and the key to their vehicle.

The same day, the Palestinian Red Crescent said two Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, were shot with live ammunition by Israeli forces in the al-Amari refugee camp in al-Bireh, adjacent to Ramallah. The child and a young man shot in the foot were taken to hospital.