Settlers breach Islamic shrines in the West Bank

Local and Palestinian security sources reported that “terrorist settlers stormed Islamic religious sites in the village of Ortah, southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank.” The Palestinian News and Information Agency (Wafa) quoted the sources as saying that “hundreds of settlers stormed the village of Ortah under the protection of Israeli occupation forces and performed Talmudic rituals at these sites.” It noted that “occupation forces closed the checkpoints in Deir al-Sharaf and Ortah surrounding Nablus, coinciding with the settlers’ incursion.” According to the agency, “settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, and several citizens, including two sisters, were injured in attacks by settlers protected by occupation forces in the governorates of Ramallah, Jenin, Hebron, and Nablus.” In a related development, Israeli media reported that extremist settlers attacked members of an American television crew and a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank. Reports indicated that a man and a woman were injured in the incident. The Palestinian News and Information Agency stated that the incident occurred in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus, while NBC News reported that several journalists from the American network were attacked. According to the German News Agency (dpa), the journalists had accompanied a family to their home, which they had been forced to leave earlier. Wafa noted that settlers smashed the windshield of the vehicle carrying the NBC News crew. Matt Bradley, an international correspondent for NBC News, said, “They jumped out of a car and beat us, then returned to their vehicle.”