11-year-old girl attacked as Israeli settlers storm Palestinian village

Hala Mahmoud Al-Qet was wounded in the attack that saw more than 20 settlers storm the village, breaking the windows of houses and throwing stones at residents, Ihab Al-Qet, a member of the village council of Madama near the city of Nablus told The New Arab’s Arabic-language service.

“Hala was visiting her uncle’s house and tried to leave in order to return home. She was surprised to see the settlers who attacked her straight away, throwing stones and striking her face”, Ihab Al-Qet said.

“They tried to kidnap her but her uncle and other people were able to free her from the settlers,” he added.

The council member said Hala was taken to hospital in Nablus and is in a stable condition but is suffering from psychological trauma due to the attack.

Al-Qet added that the Israeli army also stormed the village one hour after the withdrawl of the settlers, who came from the Yitzhar illegal settlement.

The village council contacted the Palestinian Authority and human rights groups, who visited Hala in hospital, he added.

There have been repeated attacks by settlers on Palestinian towns and villages in recent days.

On Sunday, settlers attacked farms belonging to Palestinians near the town of Bruqin, uprooting over sixty olive and fruit trees.

A day earlier, settlers planted nails in the roads around Nablus in order to damage the tires of Palestinian cars, while also throwing stones at passing vehicles.

On Monday, Jewish extremists guarded by Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Islam’s third most holy site and performed religious rites in its courtyard.

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