West Bank: Israeli settlers abduct and assault two Palestinians
Armed Israeli settlers abducted two Palestinian men for several hours on Saturday, subjecting them to severe beatings before releasing them late at night.
The two men, Adnan Amiriya and Muhammad Amiriya, were seized during a settler raid on their home town of Kober, near Ramallah.
During the attack, settlers also stormed homes, assaulted women and forcibly took Adnan and Muhammad, stripping them of their shirts, handcuffing and blindfolding them, Kober’s mayor, Shawkat Barghouti, told Middle East Eye.
The men were taken to an unknown location and remained missing for hours.
They were eventually released late at night, far from the town, after being severely beaten, Barghouti said.
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Both men were immediately taken to the hospital for treatment.
This is the third time settlers have abducted young men from Kober, according to Barghouti.
On the previous two occasions, the victims were released after days of detention and abuse in remote locations far from the town.
“About a month and a half ago, settlers took control of a hill on the town’s southwestern side,” he said.
“Since then, they’ve been attacking homes and targeting nomadic communities in an attempt to seize more land.”
'They’re trying to steal the land and seize everything. They’re barbaric and'
- Shadi Tarwa, Palestinian grandfather
Meanwhile, a group of Israeli settlers continue to gather at a newly established outpost on land belonging to the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, under the protection of the Israeli army.
Earlier this week, soldiers killed a Palestinian by suffocation after firing tear gas at him while he was defending his land. Another man was critically injured and remains in the hospital.
On Saturday evening, settlers launched a second attack that day on al-Auja waterfall community, north of Jericho.
Hassan Malihat, director of Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, said settlers photographed Palestinian residents and their homes, hurled insults at them, and earlier in the day, cut water lines supplying drinking water to the community.
“These provocative actions are part of a broader strategy to forcibly displace residents from their land,” Malihat told MEE.
“It’s a systematic escalation aimed at emptying the Palestinian Jordan Valley of its indigenous population.”
Grandfather and children attacked
Elsewhere, settlers wounded four members of the same Palestinian family north of Hebron on Saturday during a fresh assault.
Shadi Tarwa was heading with his family to work on their land in Wadi Sair when they were ambushed by 10 armed settlers.
"Without warning, they started throwing large stones at us," Tarwa told Middle East Eye.
"I was trying to protect my grandchildren, aged two and four, and was hit in the head because I used my hands to shield them. We jumped into the car and miraculously escaped."
The attack left Tarwa, his son, wife and pregnant daughter-in-law with head injuries.
Their vehicle was also stoned and its windows shattered. Blood from the injured splattered on to the children’s clothes as they cried and screamed in fear.
Despite the violence, settlers remained in the area after the family fled, blocking the road by throwing stones to prevent other Palestinian vehicles from passing.
According to Tarwa, this was not the first time his family had been targeted by settlers and Israeli forces.
"They’re trying to steal the land and seize everything. They’re barbaric and savage. They don’t care about anyone and face no consequences," he said.
The family eventually reached their home town of Wadi Sair before being transferred to a government hospital in Hebron, where doctors confirmed they had sustained severe head injuries.
Israeli settler violence against Palestinians has surged since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023.
According to the United Nations, 2024 has seen the highest levels of settler violence since the UN began tracking such incidents.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) recorded 1,400 incidents in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, including physical assaults, arson, raids on Palestinian communities and the destruction of fruit trees - averaging nearly four incidents per day, resulting in injuries, fatalities or damage to property.
Data from the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission shows that settlers killed at least seven Palestinians during the first half of 2024.
Over the past year, approximately 4,700 Palestinians have been internally displaced across the West Bank, with 12 percent citing settler violence and access restrictions as the primary cause, according to Ocha.
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