An Israeli settler drawing a gun at Palestinians in Wad al-Fau (see video footage below)
The attack on Wad al-Fau, a community in the north of the Jordan Valley, began around 9 am local time when a group of Israeli settlers gathered and started entering the built-up area of the community. The assault quickly escalated into violence, with settlers throwing stones at the Palestinian residents and international solidarity volunteers and spraying them with pepper spray. One settler was filmed drawing a handgun at the Palestinians.
When Israeli police arrived on the scene after Palestinians and internationals called them, the settlers falsely claimed to have been the ones who were attacked. After a short exchange, police arrested one local Palestinian and one American citizen; both are still in custody. None of the settlers were questioned or detained.
Wad al-Fau is one of several small communities in the Jordan Valley that is threatened by forced expulsion and ethnic cleansing through ongoing settler violence.
International volunteers shortly after being attacked by settlers in Qusra (see video footage below)
In the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the West Bank, settlers from nearby settlements assaulted and injured three international volunteers who were accompanying a Palestinian shepherd. Two of the volunteers required hospitalization, one of them with a significant head wound. The second volunteer hospitalized was hurt as he shielded the first volunteer with his body after she was injured and could not escape. A third volunteer suffered a minor injury to his elbow.
Around 9:45 am local time, a group of 6 settlers clad in black attacked a shepherd from the village and his herd with sticks and rocks. In response, three international volunteers staying in Qusra arrived at around 10am to accompany the shepherd. Soon after, a larger group of settlers charged towards the volunteers wielding sticks and rocks.
The settler mob then caught up to two of the volunteers and attacked using wooden sticks, beating them as they lay helpless on the ground. One volunteer, who goes by Loulou, was seriously wounded by a rock to the top of her head, causing her to fall to the ground unable to continue her escape. A second volunteer, who goes by Percy, then tried to shield Loulou with his body and was also attacked by settlers who surrounded and beat them with rocks and sticks. Both were pepper sprayed at close range, with settlers reaching underneath Percy’s eyeglasses to spray directly into his eyes. This is the third incident in just two months where settlers have proactively attacked international volunteers.
For more details:
Jonathan Pollak +972503010160, jonathan@defendpalestine.org
Vivi Chen +972525336780
Footage of the attacks can be seen here (Wad al-Fau) and here (Qusra). Credit: Faz3a, defendpalestine.org.
Following the attack, Loulou said: “We were out with a shepherd in the fields when 20-25 settlers charged at us with rocks and rods. I was first hit in the head by a large rock which left me on the ground bleeding. They then continued to attack me with rocks and sticks until my comrade came and covered me, taking the rest of the beating and very likely saving my life. What happened to us today was horrifying, but it is the daily reality of Palestinians in the west bank. If settlers are able to attack us without repercussions, you can only imagine what they do to Palestinians.”
Background
The incident today and the ongoing violence in Qusra is part of a broader pattern of repression employed by the state of Israel. This attack happens as the Israeli military carries out its seventh day of massive raids across the occupied West Bank. The largest Israeli assault on the occupied territories in twenty years has left several dozen Palestinians killed, at a time when Israel is also engaged in a devastating war on Gaza. The escalation of violence also follows the ethnic cleansing of at least 18 Palestinian communities since October 2023 alone, and the leaking of statements from Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, which outline a plan to impose permanent Israeli control over the West Bank and expand illegal settlements.
The village of Qusra, south of Nablus, has about 5,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded by the four illegal settlements of Esh Kodesh, Migdalim, Keida, and Ahiya. The village has been the target of ongoing Israeli violence through dozens of settler attacks and military raids, often happening in tandem. Six of its residents were killed during similar settler attacks on October 11 and 12, 2023.
Approximately a year ago, settlers from the illegal settlement of Migdalim uprooted around 37 dunams of Palestinian olive groves north of the settlement, within the lands of Qusra village. In early December 2023, settlers placed four mobile structures in this area and established a new outpost to the north of the settlement on private Palestinian land. The new outpost is situated in the heart of agricultural lands belonging to Qusra village. Recently, settlers also cultivated around 25 dunams of private land from the Jorish village, east of the Migdalim settlement.
In July, settlers from Esh Kodesh attacked international activists and Palestinian farmers in the village of Qusra with metal pipes, sticks and stones. Two Americans and a German national suffered injuries requiring hospitalization, and another American volunteer suffered minor injuries. The attack took place as international solidarity activists were accompanying Palestinian farmers to their olive groves, which they haven’t been able to access since October 2023 because of attacks by Israeli settlers.
On August 31, dozens of Israeli settlers from settlements surrounding the Palestinian village of Qusra staged an attack on the village, accompanied and protected by Israeli soldiers. During the attack, five residents of the village were hit with live ammunition, including a young man who is in critical condition after being shot in the lower back and a 12 year-old boy. All five were transported to a local hospital for immediate treatment. American solidarity activists were also assaulted with stones and shot at despite making their international identities known to soldiers.
