JERICHO, May 9, 2025 (WAFA) - Israeli colonists Friday evening attacked the Arab al-Mlaihat community, northwest of the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, according to a local activist.

Hasan Mlaihat, supervisor of the al-Baidar Organization in Defense of Bedouin Rights, said that colonists barged their way into the community and attacked the inhabitants, spraying pepper in their faces.

He added that the assailants also assaulted an inhabitant, injuring him and causing him to suffocate from pepper spray, and intimidated his family members.

According to the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), the Arab al-Mlaihat come originally from Negev; people of this area were forcefully expelled to live in different places of the West Bank due to their nomadic nature.  In mid mid-eighties, people of al-Mlaihat were sent out from the al-Irqa area to Maghair al-Dair, which is only 7km away from it, claiming the area a military closed zone by Israel.

Approximately 1 million Israeli colonists are living in colonies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law.

K.F.