At least two Palestinians were injured on Friday when a group of extremist Israeli settlers invaded the Bedouin village of Ein el-Auja, north of Jericho, in the central occupied West Bank, local sources said.

Mahmoud Ghawanmeh, a local rights activist, told the Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) that dozens of armed settlers used attack dogs to storm the village and proceeded to attempted to steal the livestock belonging to local Palestinian residents.

Local residents attempted to resist the colonial attack, resulting in the injury of two young men who were moved to nearby Jericho Public Hospital, where their conditions were described as moderate.

Ghawanmeh pointed out that prior to the assault, Israeli forces broke into the village to provide protection for the settlers, and briefly detained two Palestinians from the village, before releasing them.

Also on Friday, thousands of settlers stormed two other villages in the northern Jordan valley.

Under international law, Israel has a duty to protect Palestinians in the West Bank, however, according to B’Tselem Israeli authorities routinely shirk this responsibility, even when the violent actions can be anticipated.

Thousands of testimonies, videos and reports, as well as many years of close monitoring by B’Tselem and other organizations, reveal that Israeli security forces not only allow settlers to harm Palestinians and their property as a matter of course – they often provide the perpetrators escort and back-up. In some cases, they even join in on the attack.

Image: Ma’an archive

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