Israeli reports revealed that a Palestinian citizen was attacked by settlers, who threw stones at his car while he was driving, making him get into an accident in which he suffered severe injuries.
Haaretz reported on Monday that Palestinian witnesses who spoke with the newspaper bolster police suspicions that the car accident, which took place west of Ramallah in November, was caused by stone throwing.
It said a source familiar with the investigation behind Nablus resident Raed Harez's car crash revealed that a settler was detained last week on suspicion of his involvement in the incident.
So far, no suspects have been arrested, the newspaper said, adding that the unidentified settler was released after being questioned.
It also quoted the source as saying that the vehicle from which the stones that hit Harez were thrown had not been located.
“Bassem Salouda, from the village of Duma, reported that just before the incident, while traveling on the Alon Road close to where the incident took place, he noticed a gray car with Israeli license plates coming from the opposite direction. A man sitting behind the driver tried to throw a stone at him, but he managed to get away,” the newspaper wrote.
It quoted Salouda as saying that behind it was another car, from which someone threw a stone at point-blank range. “My front and rear windshields were shattered,” said Salouda. “I was covered in glass, but luckily nothing happened to me.”
A young man from al-Mughayyir, who asked to remain anonymous, also revealed to Haaretz that he witnessed the car accident from the roof of his house, located about 300 meters from the Alon Road.
He recalled hearing a loud noise coming from the road. “I saw a white car with Israeli plates going back and forth along the road,” he said. “I saw a man emerge from the car and throw a stone at the car driven by Raed.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli B’tselem human rights organization reported Monday that the Israeli state fully supports and assists the settler violence, and its agents sometimes directly participate in them.
“As such, settler violence is a form of government policy, aided and abetted by official state authorities with their active participation,” it wrote.
Extremist settlers form armed militias that initiate daily attacks against Palestinians.
On Monday, dozens of them attacked homes on the road to a cemetery in the village of Burqa, northwest of Nablus.
Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors Israeli settlement activities in the northern West Bank, said the villagers managed to fend an attack carried by Israeli settlers who snuck into the village from the nearby illegal evicted settlement of Homesh.
Clashes reportedly broke out after Israeli forces intervened to provide settlers with protection and attacked the villagers.
At least three people were shot and injured by rubber-coated steel bullets fired by the army during the clashes. Several other people suffocated from tear gas inhalation, including a man who was transferred to hospital, the Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported.
