Israel attacks Palestinian village, injures dozens

Source : Al Akhbar English

Updated: 9:12pm: Israeli soldiers disguised as vegetable vendors raided the northern West Bank town of Tamoun and fired live ammunition at residents, injuring at least 30, locals said.

Residents said youths threw stones and bottles at the soldiers after they arrested Murad Bani Odeh, a member of Islamic Jihad. The soldiers responded with live fire, rubber bullets and tear gas.

One man was hit in the eye with a tear gas canister and taken to hospital for treatment and over 100 people suffered smoke inhalation from tear gas.

Dozens of Israeli military jeeps arrived in the area as reinforcements during the clashes and set up checkpoints at the entrances to the village to prevent people from leaving, Ahmad Assad, head of a local committee against settlements, said.

The attack comes as dozens of settlers raided the northern West Bank village of Qusra overnight Monday, uprooting more than 190 olive trees, according to Palestinian media.

Several residents in Qusra, near Nablus, were assaulted, and homes and a tractor were also damaged in the raid, settlement monitoring official Ghassan Daghlas said.

Palestinian security guards chased the settlers, and detained four of them for a short period of time. Israeli forces quickly intervened, entered the village, and released the settlers, Daghlas said.

Also overnight, settlers entered Beit Ummar village north of Hebron, and burned a car and tractor belonging to resident Suhail Bragheith.

The vandals also sprayed graffiti saying: "A good Arab is a dead Arab" and "Yitzhar revenge is on the properties today, and tomorrow will be on the souls."

Israeli troops entered the village, and told residents they would investigate.

(Ma'an, AP, Al-Akhbar)