Ramallah, Mar. 28, (dpa/GNA) – Several Palestinians have been injured in an attack by Israeli settlers on villagers in the Masafer Yatta region of the West Bank, Israeli media reported on Friday.
The military has reportedly detained 26 Palestinian men in the village south of Hebron.
The settlers had attacked a group of shepherds, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
There have been repeated attacks in the villages of Masafer Yatta in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was beaten up by Israeli settlers and temporarily detained by the Israeli army, according to eyewitnesses.
Ballal made the Palestinian-Norwegian film in collaboration with Israelis Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, and Palestinian Basel Adra.
It tells the story of the non-violent struggle of Palestinians in Susya and the surrounding Masafer Yatta landscape south of Hebron to protect their villages and their land.
UN: ‘Callous disregard for human life’ in the Gaza Strip
A United Nations spokesman said on Friday that the Israeli blockade of aid supplies to the Gaza Strip is once again putting the population at risk.
The World Food Programme still has 5,700 tons of food that were brought into the area during the ceasefire, said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It is enough to last for two weeks, he said.
Israel stopped further humanitarian aid deliveries at the beginning of March, saying it did so because of Hamas’ refusal to accept a US-brokered plan to continue a ceasefire agreement.
Critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have accused him of slow-walking the second phase of the ceasefire plan in order to keep himself in power, as his right-wing coalition partners are not interested in withdrawing from Gaza.
OCHA has levelled serious accusations against the Israeli authorities.
“[We are] witnessing callous disregard for human life and dignity,” said Laerke. “The acts of war that we see bear the hallmarks of atrocity crimes.”
In international law, the term “atrocity crimes” refers to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. He cited attacks on hospitals and the displacement of the civilian population as examples.
About 18% of the territory is under an evacuation order. The people have nowhere to go where they are safe and can find food, Laerke said.
“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he added.
GNA
PDC