ISTANBUL

Illegal Israeli settlers attacked activists and foreign volunteers early Thursday in the Bedouin community of Shallal al-Auja, north of Jericho in the eastern West Bank, local media reported.

A group of illegal settlers from nearby outposts raided the community and assaulted activists and international supporters who were there to help protect Palestinian residents, Hassan Mleihat, director of the Bedouin rights group al-Baydar, told the official news agency Wafa.

He said activists and unarmed villagers confronted the illegal settlers and forced them to flee.

Wafa did not specify the nationalities of the foreign volunteers.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, an official body, illegal Israeli settlers have carried out 621 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank in November only.

More than 1,087 Palestinians have been killed and 10,700 others injured in attacks by the army and illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied territory since October 2023. Over 20,500 people have also been arrested.

In a landmark opinion in July last year, 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.