Palestinian village attacked by settlers visited by army commander

• Published date: 30 September 2021
• Author: TOVAH LAZAROFF
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

A three-year-old boy Muhammad Baker Mahmoud Hamamdeh suffered a head injury during the attack on Mufaaqarah.

The boy was hospitalized at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba and is expected to be released. MK Mossi Raz (Meretz) visited him on Thursday.

According to the left-wing group B'Tselem, the attackers "invaded Palestinian homes, smashed windows, and caused massive damage to equipment, including many vehicles."

B'Tselem account of the Israeli settler attack on a Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank, September 28, 2021. (Credit: B'Tselem)

Border policemen and IDF soldiers who responded to the incident used tear gas as one of few dispersal methods to break up the crowd of Palestinians and settlers.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid issued a harsh statement about the incident: "This violent incident, is horrific and it is terror," reads a tweet. "This isn't the Israeli way and it isn't the Jewish way. This is a violent and dangerous fringe and we have a responsibility to bring them to justice."

The left-wing NGO Peace Now called the attack a "pogrom."

It also disputed Lapid's statement that the attackers were a "fringe" group, alleging that the "hilltop thugs" have the backing of Israeli security forces.

A number of envoys at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in New York also spoke out about Tuesday's attack.

Ireland's Ambassador to the UN Geraldine Byrne Nason told the UNSC at its Wednesday meeting: "We unreservedly condemn yesterday's incident of settler violence in the South Hebron Hills in which a young child was injured.

"We call on the Israeli authorities to hold those responsible accountable and to end the culture of impunity against all such...