AL-KHALIL, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Two Palestinian civilians and a foreign solidarity activist were injured on Tuesday in an attack carried out by Jewish settlers in the Masafer Yatta area, south of al-Khalil.
Local activist Osama Makhamra reported that settlers from the “Ma’on” settlement, illegally built on Palestinian land, assaulted the family of Ahmad Barghash Al-Shawahin while they were grazing their sheep in the Wadi al-Jawaya area. The attack also targeted two foreign activists, leaving brothers Hamza and Saddam Al-Shawahin, along with one foreign activist, injured.
Palestinian Red Crescent crews provided first aid at the scene and transferred the injured to Yatta Governmental Hospital.
Makhamra added that the settlers smashed and stole the phone of Hamza Al-Shawahin, as well as the phones of the injured foreign activist and another solidarity activist.
The attack comes amid escalating tensions in the West Bank and a surge in settler violence. On Monday evening, three Palestinians, including a 70-year-old man, were injured in separate attacks. The elderly man was beaten in the town of Mikhmas, northeast of Occupied Jerusalem, while two young men were hospitalized after an assault in Deir Bzi’ west of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Data from the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission shows that Jewish settlers carried out 443 attacks against Palestinians and their property between February 28 and March 28, marked by increased organization and scale. These attacks included live fire, arson targeting homes and property, and efforts to establish new settlement outposts.
The violence has resulted in the killing of nine Palestinians, the establishment of 14 settlement outposts, and widespread destruction of agricultural land. This comes as Israeli escalation in the West Bank continues since October 2023, leaving more than 1,140 Palestinians killed, around 11,750 injured, and nearly 22,000 detained.
