JERICHO, Friday, February 21, 2020 (WAFA) – At least two Palestinians were injured on Friday when a group of extremist Jewish settlers raided the village of Ein el-Auja, a small Bedouin hamlet to the north of Jericho, local sources said.

Mahmoud Ghawanmeh, a local rights activist, told WAFA that dozens of armed settlers accompanied by attack dogs forced their way into the village and attempted to steal livestock belonging to local residents. The settlers clashed with local residents who attempted to fend off their attack, and at least two locals were injured by the settlers.

The two, both in their twenties, were moved to nearby Jericho Public Hospital for medical treatment, where their condition was described as moderate.  

Ghawanmeh added that shortly after the attack occurred, an Israeli army force broke into the village to provide protection for the settlers, and while they were there the force briefly detained two Palestinians from the village.

Like the rest of Bedouin villages in the Jordan Valley region, which makes up one third of the area of the occupied West Bank, the village has been a frequent target of attacks by Israeli army and settlers.

On the sixth of January, an Israeli army unit raided the village and confiscated multiple residential structures and handed notices for the demolition of many others.

M.N