Hundreds of Zionist settlers raid Islamic religious sites in Awarta, south of Nablus

NABLUS, Aug. 30 (YPA) – Hundreds of Zionist settlers, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, raided Islamic religious sites in the village of Awarta, southeast of Nablus, early Sunday and performed Talmudic rituals at the sites.

Palestinian sources reported that Israeli forces closed the Deir Sharaf and Awarta military checkpoints around Nablus in conjunction with the colonists’ raid.

The raid followed a surge in Israeli settler attacks across the occupied West Bank on Saturday, with Palestinians injured in attacks in Ramallah, Jenin, Hebron, Nablus, Salfit and Bethlehem.

In Silwad, northeast of Ramallah, two sisters aged 75 and 65 suffered bruises and injuries after settlers assaulted them while they were picking figs and stole their phones and vehicle key. Settlers also attacked the villages of al-Mughayyir and Burqa under military protection, firing live ammunition and damaging a vehicle.

In Arraba, south of Jenin, two Palestinians were injured after settlers assaulted them. In Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, a foreign activist suffered suffocation and Palestinians sustained injuries during a colonist attack in Khallet al-Hummus. A foreign activist was also abducted from Umm al-Khair before being detained by Israeli police.

Settlers also attacked Palestinian homes in Yasuf, in Salfit province, and carried out provocative activity in the village of Khalayel al-Louz, near Bethlehem.

In Nablus, two Palestinians suffered bruises during a settler attack, under military protection, on a home in the Ras al-Ain area of the town of Qusra. Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from reaching the besieged home, while settlers set fires on Palestinian-owned land.

They also assaulted a couple and a foreign press crew in Jalud, smashing the crew’s vehicle and beating them.

@E.Y.M