Israeli occupation forces abducted a Palestinian driver and his passengers on Saturday evening after an Israeli colonizer was slightly injured at the entrance of the illegal colony of Efrat, south of Bethlehem, during an assault carried out by dozens of illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers who had gathered, blocked Palestinian traffic, and attacked passing cars.
According to the Israeli army’s own statement, settlers assembled at the junction, closed the road to Palestinian vehicles, and hurled stones at passing cars. Amid the chaos, a Palestinian vehicle struck a settler who was standing among the group blocking the road. The army said the settler sustained a light injury and was transported to a hospital.
Israeli forces and the so‑called Border Police then sealed the area, conducted searches, and abducted the Palestinian driver along with several individuals who were in the vehicle, transferring them for interrogation. No arrests were reported among the colonizers who initiated the road closure and stone‑throwing.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that colonizers were already gathered at the junction, preventing Palestinian cars from passing and pelting them with stones, forcing drivers to attempt to escape the assault. During the resulting congestion and panic, one Palestinian vehicle collided with a colonizer.
Hebrew‑language media, including Yedioth Ahronoth, cited the Israeli army as saying that the Palestinian driver and others were taken into custody, while the injured settler’s condition remained minor.
The incident comes amid a documented surge in attacks by Israeli colonizers across the occupied West Bank. Colonizers—often operating under direct protection from Israeli soldiers—have carried out assaults on Palestinian communities, burned agricultural structures, uprooted trees, blocked roads, and attacked civilians.
Earlier Saturday, at least nine Palestinian civilians were injured, including one shot in the head, when paramilitary Israeli colonizers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, launched a coordinated attack on the town of Huwwara, south of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.
Saturday witnessed a sharp escalation in attacks and violations by Israeli occupation forces and illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers carried out multiple assaults across the occupied West Bank.
A Channel 13 report this week highlighted internal criticism within Israeli police and security agencies, noting that the army and the Shin Bet have repeatedly failed to intervene against Israeli colonizer attacks in the West Bank, contributing to an environment of impunity.
