Palestinians Report 17-year-old Scalded, Hundreds of Uprooted Trees in Spike in Revenge Attacks

A series of violent incidents by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank have been reported on Wednesday, including vandalism and torching of cars and uprooting of trees.

Near the village of Jinba in the South Hebron Hills, Palestinians reported a 17-year-old who was injured by an object thrown at him by five settlers. The mother of the teen told Haaretz that she was with her son, Zakaria Jabarin, when the settlers came and threw an object at him, which exploded nearby.

“It burned his face and hands. We weren’t in a Jewish area but an Arab one, I’m not sure what it was,“ she said. Jabarin was transported for treatment to a Hebron hospital, suffering from burns to his hands and face. According to his mother, he had also been attacked by settlers in the same area two days earlier.

In the village of Tuba in the South Hebron Hills, Palestinians said that eight settlers had smashed the windows of two cars, and claimed that one Palestinian was arrested by the Israeli military after the incident.

Near the West Bank city of Salfit, close to the settlement of Ariel, cars were vandalized in two villages and 150 trees were vandalized in another.

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In the late hours of Tuesday night, four cars were pelted with rocks at the village of Marda in the area and a car was torched in the village of Asira al-Qibliya near Nablus.

Israel Police report that the Judea and Samaria District officers arrested three suspects in connection with the incident, including two minors, having found evidence in their car connecting them to the crimes. Two were remanded to custody until Friday and the third until Thursday.

In addition, some 170 olive trees were uprooted early Wednesday morning near the village of Luban al-Sharqiya. The mayor, Yaakub Awais, said that the trees were 12 years old. According to him, six years ago a hundred of his trees were cut. “It’s an abnormal sight. Very hard. The worst damage it does to us is emotional,” said Awais, adding that Palestinian police and Agriculture Ministry personnel arrived at the scene following his report of the incident.