West Bank clashes (Archives)
Photo: Reuters
West Bank: Palestinian shot, settler teen hurt
Yitzhar settlers claim Palestinians torched their agricultural fields, storm nearby village in response; Palestinians say villager injured form settler gunfire
Dozens of Jews from the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar rioted in the nearby Palestinian village Asira al-Kabaliya Monday evening.
During the riots Palestinian homes were raided, property was damaged and one villager was injured from settler gunfire, according to the Palestinians.
At the same time it was reported settlers from the Gilad Farm outpost attacked a number of Palestinians from the village of Fara'ata.
Palestinians in the West Bank expressed fears that the attacks were coordinated.
The residents of Yitzhar claimed that Palestinians from Asira al-Kabaliya had torched agricultural fields belonging to the settlement.
According to the settlers, the Palestinians stoned them as they approached the fields to extinguish the blaze, adding that a 17-year-old boy was injured in his eye during the incident. The teen was evacuated to the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
IDF soldiers alerted to the scene dispersed the crowd using tear gas and put out the fire.
The Israeli army said it was still unclear who was responsible for the fire in Yitzhar.
Meanwhile, police are investigating a suspected arson at the Bat Ayin settlement in Gush Etzion after settlers filed a complaint saying Palestinians had set fire to a barn.
"We could have woken up this morning, god forbid, to the funerals of two families," Bat Ayin resident Menashe Levinger told Ynet on Monday.
According to Levinger, a 14-year-old boy living in a nearby caravan awoke at 3:00 am and spotted the flames consuming the barn. He alerted his parents, who were able to call firefighters to the scene before the fire could reach the two wooden caravans sitting adjacent to the barn.
