Illegal Israeli Settlers Attack Village East Of Ramallah Under Army Protection

At least four Palestinians were injured in an attack carried out by illegal Israeli settlers protected by the Israeli army on the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Sunday.

Medical teams at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah "are dealing with three (moderate to serious) injuries from live ammunition to the chest and one injury to the hand as a result of the aggression of the occupation forces and illegal settlers on the village of Burqa in Ramallah," the ministry said.

Earlier in the day, an eyewitness told Anadolu that a number of illegal settlers attacked Burqa and set fire to a mobile sheep pen, prompting residents to confront them, but the Israeli army confronted the residents with tear gas bombs.

According to the eyewitness, the attack "resulted in the burning of a large sheep pen, the destruction of tons of fodder, the slaughter of a number of sheep and the burning of vehicles."

He noted that there were Israeli army reinforcements inside the town and on its northwestern outskirts, adding that residents were prevented from reaching the fires to extinguish them.

The Palestine news agency WAFA also reported that "settlers, protected by Israeli occupation forces, attacked the village of Burqa east of Ramallah on Sunday evening and set fire to a sheep pen."

In a separate incident in the southern West Bank, WAFA reported that the Israeli army besieged a mosque near the city of Bethlehem.

It said that "Israeli occupation forces besieged a mosque in the village of Harmala, southeast of Bethlehem, and prevented Muslim faithful from leaving, leading to clashes during which soldiers fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters, without any reported injuries."

At least 485 Palestinians have been killed and over 4,900 others injured by Israeli army forces and illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank since Oct. 7 last year, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered it to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza, where nearly 34,100 people have been killed.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala -