Dozens of fundamentalist Israeli settlers, living in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, hurled on Tuesday at night, stones at five Palestinian homes in the city while chanting racist slogans and slurs at the Palestinian natives of the city. Mofeed Sharabaty, a local resident, stated that approximately 100 settlers attacked his home, the homes of his brother Zeidan, and the homes of Abdul-Rahman Al Salayma, Idrees Zahda, and Ali Al Nather. The army was present in the area but did not attempt to stop the settlers.
In an interview with the Maan News Agency, Al Sharabaty stated that several armed settlers broke into his home and threatened to harm him and his family if he continues the remodeling of his home
Head of the Hebron Construction Committee, Imad Hamdan, stated that this escalation comes only two days after the Israeli High Court turned down an appeal filed by the committee asking the court to order the reopening of several streets that were closed by the military in the Old City of Hebron.
The closed streets, including the Al Shuhada Street, include dozens of stores that had to shut down; the residents are not allowed to use these streets, yet, the settlers are.
Hamdan told Maan Agency that “the appeal was filed to the High Court seven years ago, but the court rejected it recently, an issue that encouraged the settlers to escalate their violations and acts of provocation against the residents and their property”.
Israel ordered the closure of the Al Shuhada Street in 1994 after extremist settler Baroch Goldstein broke into the Ibrahimi mosque in the city and opened automatic fire at the worshipers killing 29 Palestinians and wounding dozens before the worshipers managed to kill him.
Following the outbreak of the second Intifada in late September 2000, Israel ordered the full closure of the road, preventing the Palestinians from even crossing through it.
Israel also closed As-Sihla Street, most parts of Tareq Ben Ziyad Street, and several others streets in the city by installing iron gates and large cement blocks restricting the movement of nearly 45.000 Palestinians living in the Old City of Hebron and the southern neighborhoods of the city.
