Illegal Israeli settler runs over Palestinian in occupied West Bank

ISTANBUL

A Palestinian man was injured Friday after an illegal Israeli settler ran him over with a vehicle in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestine’s official news agency Wafa.

Local sources cited by Wafa said the incident took place on Amman Street, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, when a group of settlers entered the area in their vehicles.

One illegal settler struck a young Palestinian man as he was crossing the road, leaving him with fractures in both legs, the report said.

The Israeli army confirmed reports of the incident, according to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. The army said Breslov Hasidic Jews who entered Nablus without authorization and visited Joseph’s Tomb ran over a Palestinian while leaving the site.

Joseph's tomb, revered by both Muslims and Jews, has long served as a flashpoint for clashes between Palestinians and illegal Israeli settlers.

Jews believe the site is the resting place of the biblical patriarch Joseph. Muslims, on the other hand, dispute this claim, saying Sheikh Yussef Dawiqat, an Islamic cleric, was buried there two centuries ago.

Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,097 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured nearly 11,000, and detained around 21,000 since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.