Israeli mobs set homes, cars ablaze in West Bank pogrom. (Photo: Getty Images / The Cradle)
Reposted from MR Online
Extremist settler groups descended on Palestinian villages near the cities of Ramallah and Nablus in the occupied West Bank on 13 April to terrorize Palestinian residents for a second day in a row.
According to local reports, the settler mobs are present in the villages of Silwad and Turmusayya near Ramallah and in Duma near Nablus. The Israeli pogrom started on Friday when hundreds of settlers set fire to homes and vehicles in the village of Al-Mughayyir.
At least one Palestinian, identified as 26-year-old Jehad Abu Alia, was killed and more than 30 others injured after being shot at and physically assaulted by the settlers. Israeli police, who regularly protect the rampaging mobs, arrested several injured Palestinians.
“My son went with others to defend our land and honor, and this is what happened,” Abu Alia told reporters from a hospital in Ramallah, where his son’s body had been transported.
Locals say the settlers stole approximately 70 sheep from the Palestinian village.
According to an Israeli rights group, the violent mobs are searching for a 14-year-old who went missing on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas. One of those killed was Muhammad Omar Daraghmeh, the son of Hamas leader and Palestinian detainee Omar Daraghmeh, who was killed inside Israel’s Megiddo prison in October last year.
Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank has surged dramatically since the start of the war on Gaza. Army raids into West Bank cities and camps have become a near-daily occurrence.
Palestinian health officials say over 460 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops and extremist settler groups in the occupied West Bank since October, as the country’s national security ministry has issued thousands of gun permits and directly armed the settlers.
Resistance to army raids and settler pogroms has also intensified, as reports say Palestinian factions have been bolstered by smuggled Iranian weapons.
Originally published: The Cradle
The Cradle is a journalist-driven publication covering West Asia that represents the tens of millions of regional voices not heard in the world’s English-language media.
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