[IsraelTimes] Video from scene shows several Paleostinian vehicles set on fire north of Ramallah; IDF says settlers opened fire during ’
At least four Paleostinians were maimed by gunfire during festivities with settlers north of Ramallah in the West Bank, Paleostinian media reported Friday.
Paleostinian reports said four people were hit by the gunfire, including one person at death's door with a bullet wound to the head.
Videos posted to social media showed fields and several vehicles apparently set on fire by the settlers.
Witnesses told the Paleostinian Wafa news agency that five vehicles and 270 bales of straw were torched.
A military spokesperson told The Times of Israel that troops were dispatched to the area following reports of "
The spokesperson said settlers had opened fire during the festivities, and that both sides were hurling stones.
"As a result of the
IDF troops along with coppers used riot dispersal means and live fire in the air to eventually disperse the sides, the spokesperson said.
Israel Police launched an investigation into the violence.
It was the second reported incident of festivities between settlers and Paleostinians this week.
Several Paleostinians and an Israeli settler were hurt Wednesday during festivities near the northern West Bank outpost of Homesh, in violence that erupted after European officials toured the area.
According to the Yesh Din rights group, several hard boy settlers attacked Paleostinians in the village of Burqa and set fire to homes. Video from Burqa showed residents trying to extinguish the blazes.
Yesh Din said the incident came after European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...diplomats visited the area around Homesh, a former outpost evacuated in 2005 after the High Court found it was built partly on private Paleostinian land belonging to residents of Burqa.
The IDF did not respond to requests for comment on the Wednesday festivities.
Last week, the army lifted an order forbidding civilians from entering the site of the former settlement, which right-wing groups say they hope to resettle.
The Peace Now anti-settlement watchdog, which along with Yesh Din and Emek Shaveh led the tour for the diplomats, denounced the violence in Burqa as a "Dire Revenge operation" by settlers.