US condemns settler attack on Palestinian village in Hebron Hills

• Author: TOVAH LAZAROFF
• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

"The US government strongly condemns the acts of settler violence that took place against Palestinians in villages near Hebron in the West Bank on September 28," a US Embassy spokesperson said on Friday.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid had issued a harsh statement about the incident: "This violent incident is horrific and it is terror," reads the 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 Embassy spokesperson acknowledged Lapid's statement.

"We appreciate the Foreign Minister and other officials' strong and unequivocal condemnations of this violence," the spokesperson said.

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

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)

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.

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

Border policemen and IDF soldiers who responded to the incident used tear gas to quell the violence.

After the attack, Muhammad Baker Mahmoud Hamamdeh, 3, was hospitalized at Soroka Medical Center with a head injury and is expected to be released. MK Mossi Raz (Meretz) visited him on Thursday.

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...