Four foreigners were injured in an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Agence France-Presse reported.
The four - three Italians and a Canadian - were staying in the Duyuk area, west of Jericho. Ten suspected Israeli settlers arrived on the night of Saturday and Sunday, wearing masks. They were carrying firearms. Some were also carrying sticks. The attack lasted about 10-15 minutes. The attackers attacked the foreigners, then took their personal belongings, including phones, passports, wallets, bank cards, and then left.
The four foreigners sought help at the Jericho hospital yesterday morning, said its director, Riyad Eid. Some of them had injuries to their faces and chests. One of them was also hit in the groin.
In a statement, the Italian Foreign Ministry said that three Italians, members of an international volunteer organization, were attacked by Israeli settlers near Jericho. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is monitoring the situation together with the Italian consul in Jerusalem, the statement said.
In addition to East Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank in settlements that the UN considers illegal under international law. There are also around 3 million Palestinians in this territory.
Violence erupted in the West Bank after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, sparked by an unprecedented attack by “Hamas“ against southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Violence in the West Bank has not stopped despite a ceasefire in Gaza coming into effect on October 10.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded in October a peak in settler attacks that caused casualties, material damage, or both in nearly two decades of data collection in the West Bank.
The Israeli army said it had killed more than 40 Palestinian militants in the past week during its operations targeting tunnels near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, AFP reported.
For 40 days, the Israeli military has focused its efforts in the eastern Rafah area with the aim of destroying the network of tunnels in the area and eliminating terrorists hiding there, the Israeli army said.
In the past week, more than 40 terrorists in the tunnel network area. Dozens of tunnel entrances and terrorist infrastructure sites both above and below ground were destroyed in the area, the army added.
According to several sources, negotiations are underway regarding the fate of dozens of fighters from the Palestinian movement “Hamas“ who have been trapped for several weeks in tunnels in the Israeli-controlled part of the Gaza Strip.
According to a “Hamas“ representative, between 60 and 80 fighters are trapped underground in Rafah. In early November, US special representative Steve Witkoff said that up to 200 “Hamas“ fighters are in tunnels throughout Gaza.