Injuries from settler bullets and seizure of livestock in an attack targeting Kisan village in Bethlehem

Kisan village, located east of Bethlehem city, witnessed a violent attack this Saturday morning carried out by groups of settlers under the protection of occupation forces. The assault resulted in four Palestinian citizens sustaining injuries of varying degrees, as settlers directly fired live ammunition at residents, leading to injuries in the lower extremities, while others were severely beaten with rifle butts and sharp tools.

Local sources confirmed that Red Crescent ambulance crews dealt with two live bullet injuries, one 52 years old and the other 39 years old, and they were transferred to the hospital for treatment after their condition was described as moderate. The sources indicated that the occupation forces deliberately obstructed the access of ambulances to the attack site initially, delaying the provision of first aid to the injured who were bleeding in the field.

The attack was not limited to physical assault but extended to looting property, as settlers seized approximately 100 head of sheep belonging to citizen Attallah Ibrahim Abyat. This theft comes in the context of the economic squeeze policy practiced by settlers against Palestinian farmers and herders in areas classified as 'C', with the aim of forcing them to leave their lands for the benefit of pastoral settlement expansion.

For its part, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission clarified that the pace of these attacks has dangerously escalated since the end of last February, with more than 192 settlement attacks recorded in various governorates of the West Bank. This wave of violence has led to the martyrdom of six individuals and the displacement of four entire Palestinian families, amidst settlers' exploitation of current regional circumstances and international preoccupation to implement annexation and silent displacement plans.

Kisan village, in particular, suffers from continuous targeting, as it is surrounded by settlement outposts that devour vast areas of its pastoral and agricultural lands. Observers confirm that these attacks are not spontaneous but come within a systematic plan to impose a new reality on the ground, through intimidating residents and preventing them from accessing their lands, and destroying the elements of their livelihood resilience in rural and marginalized areas.

The assault comes within the framework of repeated and systematic attacks targeting citizens and their property in the region to forcibly displace them.