Alwaght- A group of extremist Israeli settlers attacked vehicles of Palestinians traveling on a road in the northern part of the occupied West Bank and injured a Palestinian infant.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said in a statement that a one-and-a-half-year-old girl suffered injuries as settlers hurled stones at Palestinian cars near the town of Osarin.
Also on Friday, clashes were reported on Friday between Palestinian youths and Israeli military forces in several areas of the West Bank as part of anti-settlement demonstrations.
Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at Palestinians to quell protests in Beita and Kafr Qaddum towns, as well as the village of Beit Dajan.
Clashes were also reported in Osarin town after Israeli troops attacked Palestinian protesters, who were calling for the release of the body Ammar Muflih, who was shot dead by the Israeli army in Huwara village south of Nablus weeks ago.
The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has confirmed in several reports that Israel has for years clearly allowed its settlers to assault Palestinians and inflict damage on their property as one of its policies.
According to a detailed report issued in November 2021, the rights group said the assaults have also included the provision of military protection for the attackers, and in some cases troopers’ active participation in the assault.
“Like the violence employed against Palestinians by the military and the bureaucracy, settler violence is organized, institutionalized, well-equipped, and implemented in order to achieve a defined strategic goal,” the report said.
B'tselem also reported that it had documented a total of 451 settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank since early 2020, adding that in 183 cases of these attacks, Israeli military forces stood by or assisted the attackers.
Israeli military soldiers and Israeli settlers have noticeably been escalating their attacks against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and other areas, in an attempt to forcibly expel Palestinians from their lands and make way for expanding Illegal Jewish-only settlements.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
All the settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.
