HEBRON, Wednesday, October 31, 2018 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers went on a rampage in the vicinity of the Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque, attacking two Palestinians and smashing a Palestinian-owned store, said witnesses.

Settlers beat up local resident Yacoup Abu Jihad after he protested settlers’ use of loudspeakers to play loud music and foul language, held him for several hours in a store near the Ibrahimi Mosque, and threatened “to kill ]him[ sooner or later”.

Abu Jihad said that he complained to an Israeli soldier stationed nearby about the use of loudspeakers by settlers, but he was instead met with obscene shouts and comments that developed into an altercation with the soldier before settlers gathered at the scene and attacked him.

Settlers also attacked and wreaked havoc inside a Palestinian-owned souvenir store and attacked the owner, who was identified as Abdul-Raouf al-Muhtaseb.

Israeli forces refused to intervene and allowed settlers to proceed with their attacks.

Twenty two years ago, Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein broke into the Ibrahimi Mosque and opened fire at Palestinian Muslim worshippers, killing 29 people. Four Palestinians were killed on the same day in the clashes that broke out around the Mosque in response to the massacre.

In the aftermath, the mosque, known to Jews as Tomb of the Patriarchs, was divided in two, with the larger part turned into a synagogue while heavy scrutiny was imposed on the Palestinians and areas were closed completely to them, including an important market and the main street; Shuhada street.

An estimated 800 notoriously aggressive Israeli settlers live under the protection of thousands of soldiers in Hebron’s city center. The city is home to over 30,000 Palestinians.

K.F./T.R.