Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Israeli forces shot and wounded at least one Palestinian, arrested at least three, and closed entrances to the village of Tal in the occupied West Bank on Friday as more than 100 Israeli settlers marched towards the village, residents said.
A settler attack last weekend had left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead, an incident that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government characterised as terrorism – although video later emerged showing armed settlers shoving Palestinians.
The Palestinian villagers say they were defending themselves against settler attacks that aim to drive them off the land, the latest in a three-year surge of such violence in the West Bank.
Since last Friday, the Israeli military has carried out near-daily raids and arrests in Tal, which is near Nablus in the northern West Bank – where most countries and U.N. bodies consider Israeli settlements illegal, a position that Israel rejects.
Munther Shtayya, vice-president of the local council, said at least 24 people from Tal were still in Israeli custody.
“All those arrested had no involvement in what happened last week.
It was simply an expression of the resentment felt by the Israelis, and part of it was a form of punishment,” said Shtayya.
Abdulrahman Zaidan, 49, who lives on the edge of Tal, near the settlements, said: “The army, if people approach or try to resist, fires tear gas and live ammunition at them to intimidate them and force them away from their homes so they cannot protect their houses and land.”
