During the night from Saturday to
Sunday, around midnight, a group of settlers assaulted the houses
belonging to Zahde and Sharabati families, living in front of Beit
Hadassa settlement, in Shuhada Street. In order to support the families,
more palestinians decided to take to the streets; in few minutes the
situation deteriorated: more settlers joined the assault, overall around
70 people took it part and according to the witnesses some of them were
drunk. They thrown stones against the people concentrated in the street
and once the soldiers arrived, even if they were supposed to stop the
settlers attack, they escorted them using pepper spray against the
Palestinian group while the Jewish fanatics continued to throw stones.
Meanwhile the Israeli Occupation Forces surrounded all the area
forbidding to everybody to get in and refusing to explain to journalists
and human rights defenders what was going on.
During the riot, at
least five persons has been injured: a woman, Jamila, two boys, Marwan
and Sultan, and two men, Mufid and Hassaim. Initially, the ambulance was
prevented to reach the area and the injures were brought on stretchers,
hand carried by a group of volunteers. The transport of the injured was
slowed by the presence of the narrow passage at the checkpoint 56 and
the unwillingness of the soldiers to facilitate the transition. The
others lightly wounded left the area on their own
The attack finished
two hours later and when the soldiers opened the area they threw a
sound grenade in order to disperse the people. Palestinians living in
Hebron are continuously exposed to settlers harassment. Even if the
guilty should be arrested and judged for their violent acts, the army
and the police continue to ignore this simple and fair principle .