NABLUS, Friday, February 24, 2023 (WAFA) – Two Palestinian youths predawn Friday sustained gunshot injuries from Israeli settler gunfire in Qusra town, south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, according to the Health Ministry.

It announced that the two youths, both residents of the town, arrived in serious condition at the Raifida Government Hospital.

Fuad Hassan, an anti-settlement activist, said that armed Israeli settlers stormed the southern part of the town and attacked civilian houses, prompting house owners to rise up to defend themselves.

 One of the assailants, who came from the nearby colonial outpost of Esh Kodesh, opened gunfire towards the house owners and other people, hitting one by a live round that entered his abdomen and exited through the back and another in the thigh.

The two casualties received first aid treatment at a local clinic before being rushed to Raifida Government Hospital.

Israeli settler violence against Palestinians is almost a routine reality in the occupied West Bank, and is rarely prosecuted by the Israeli occupation authorities.

The colonial settlement of Yitzhar is particularly notorious for its hardcore Jewish settler community who in the past few years committed countless attacks against Palestinians and their property.

Settlers violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.

There are over 800,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

K.F.