Israeli Settler Shoots Palestinian North of Hebron

Published today (updated) 29/12/2009 15:05

Bethlehem – Ma’an –

An illegal Israeli settler on Tuesday shot and injured a Palestinian shepherd near the illegal Israeli settlement of Bat Ayn, north of the Palestinian city of Hebron, a witness said.

The settlement is built on lands that were confiscated from Palestinian villages of Al-Jaba’a, Safa, and Surif.

Ahmad Shakarna, a taxi driver who witnessed the shooting, told Ma’an that Nabil Ibrahim Abdul Majid, in his thirties from Al-Jaba’a, and a Bedouin man who lives in the same village, were herding their sheep in the fields near the village.

A settler from Bat Ayn approached them and ordered them to leave claiming the land belonged to the settlement, Shakarna said. When the shepherds tried to explain that the land belongs to their village, and that the settler in fact was the intruder, a heated argument began, he said. According to Shakarna, the settler then took out a handgun and shot Abdul-Majid in his the shoulder.

Shakarna added that large numbers of Israeli troops and border police immediately arrived and took the injured Palestinian for interrogation.

Israeli media reported a different account, saying that the security coordinator of the settlement claimed the Palestinians attempted to steal his weapon before he fired gunshots into the air while they fled.

The website of Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported a Palestinian shepherd was found injured not far from the area mentioned by the security coordinator.

Shakarna, the eyewitness said the Israeli story was completely false.

An Israeli military spokesman said officials were aware of an incident near the settlement but offered no immediate comment.

Beit Ayn, which houses 3,500 settlers, has been known in the past as a base for extremists. Three men from the settlement were jailed in 2002 for attempting to bomb a Palestinian girls’ school in Jerusalem and plotting attacks on other targets.

Bat Ayin’s settlers also prohibit Palestinians from entering the settlement, even those with Israeli IDs.

Tensions with settlers were already high in the West Bank after several incidents of settler violence in the Nablus area. On Monday night medics reported that settlers caused a bus to overturn by pelting it with stones, injuring five people.