A Palestinian woman and an NBC News team are reported to have been attacked and injured by masked Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday, amid worsening confrontations in the area.
Benjamin Netanyahu said he condemned the violence committed “by a handful of rioters”.
The attack occurred when four members of the news team were interviewing Aida Ahmed Abdullah and her family in the Palestinian town of Jalud, near Nablus.
Abdullah told the outlet that they had been driven out of their home by settlers, and the team was walking down a hill toward the house.
A car with Israeli license plates reversed up the hill toward them. At least four men with their faces covered leapt from the vehicle, hitting them with sticks and throwing rocks.
“They jumped out, beat us, then jumped back in the car,” said NBC News correspondent Matt Bradley. Bradley was hit twice in the arm and treated at a nearby clinic.
Abdullah, ۵۱, was taken for medical care by the Red Crescent. Her injuries were not life-threatening. Three other members of the news team were also injured and treated.
“Suddenly a car came to us,” said producer Lawahez Jabari. “The settlers had sticks, I saw a gun, but they didn’t use the gun.”
Camera operator Khaldoon Eid said the team had not expected to be attacked in a village.
Several violent incidents in the area were reported on Saturday. Palestinian workers were pepper-sprayed in nearby Qusra by masked Israeli settlers.
Israeli security forces told the outlet they had received reports that “violent clashes had occurred, including stone-hurling toward Palestinians and additional civilians”.
They said “security forces identified dozens of rioters who had barricaded themselves inside a Palestinian home while Palestinian residents were inside”, the statement said.
“The security forces who arrived at the scene initially operated to remove the rioters from the home and separate the groups, in order to protect the residents inside. In addition, the security forces confiscated vehicles belonging to the Israeli rioters that were suspected of having been used to reach the area,” the statement said.
“IDF soldiers and Israel Border Police forces continue to operate in the areas of Qusra and Jalud to prevent further disturbances and restore order in the area,” it added.
Earlier this month, a group of settlers began blocking supplies from entering Palestinian houses on the outskirts of the village near Nablus, trapping residents inside and drawing strong criticism from the US ambassador.
Israeli forces continue to operate in the area while settlers still roam the surrounding hills.
Netanyahu, whose government has been accused of turning a blind eye to the settler attacks, condemned the “criminal acts of violence” and blamed “a handful of rioters who violate the law, cause enormous injustice to the law-abiding settler public, hinder the IDF in fulfilling its missions and harm Israel’s standing in the world”.
According to the United Nations’ office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, Israeli forces or settlers killed ۷۶ Palestinians in the West Bank in the year to ۲۴ July. Three Israelis were killed over the same period.
