Israeli forces seal entrance to Palestinian village as settlers attack vehicle

Israeli forces sealed off the entrance of Beita town, south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, as settlers attacked a nearby Palestinian vehicle.

Israeli soldiers on Sunday evening sent a military crane and large trucks loaded with cement blocks to seal the entrance to the town, according to Palestinian Authority’s official news agency WAFA.

The move comes two days after Israeli forces attacked a peaceful rally in Beita, injuring around 113 Palestinians.

Locals in Beita, Yatma, and Qabalan have held weekly Friday rallies to protest the construction of a new illegal settlement at Jabal Sbeih.

A group of Israeli settlers unlawfully set up over 20 caravans on the mountaintop with the apparent aim of building an illegal outpost.

Also on Sunday evening, settlers from the Yitzhar post attacked a Palestinian vehicle travelling along the road connecting Nablus city to Qalqiliya city, injuring a number of passengers.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors Israeli settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told WAFA that a group of stone-and-club-wielding settlers attacked a vehicle with a Palestinian registration plate.

Two of the casualties were rushed to a nearby hospital for urgent treatment.

The community in the illegal Yitzhar settlement is notorious for its extremist views.

Israel has occupied the West Bank illegally since 1967, committing various crimes against Palestinian civilians, monitors say.

More than 700,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.

Settler attacks on Palestinians are commonplace in the West Bank, including assaults, vandalising property, and destroying agriculture.