Israeli settlers pepper spray Palestinian children in occupied Hebron

Israeli settlers attacked a number of Palestinians homes with rocks and pepper-sprayed two children, causing them severe suffocation on Friday in the occupied city of Hebron.

Sources told Palestinian Authority (PA) state news agency Wafa that the attacks had taken place in the Wadi al-Nasara area, east of Hebron.

Around 600 ultra-nationalist Israeli settlers live in the heart of Hebron, the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank. The settler enclave is protected by twice as many Israeli soldiers.

Last month, a seven-year-old Palestinian girl was hospitalised after settlers threw stones at her family's car in the occupied city. The stones and glass hit her face, leaving her with multiple injuries.

Hebron is known to be an exceptionally hostile environment due to its high concentration of settlers in the city. Its Palestinian residents reportedly live in fear due to Israeli aggression and apartheid practices. 

Last summer, a video emerged showing Israeli settlers hurling Islamophobic abuse at a Palestinian woman, while also threatening to sexually assault her in occupied Hebron.

Human rights group B'Tselem released a video on Tuesday showing settlers from Israel's illegal Kiryat Arba settlement shouting insults about Islam and Palestinians.