Settler filmed clubbing dog to death in Palestinian village |
Palestinian media aired footage of a masked man said to be an Israeli settler repeatedly clubbing a guard dog during a raid on the village of Atara, near Ramallah, one of several settler attacks across the West Bank on Friday.
Residents said the dog succumbed to its wounds from the attack shortly later.
The Haaretz daily confirmed the assailant was an Israeli and reported that he was one of several settlers who raided Atara.
Others grazed their livestock in between homes in order to harass the locals.
An illegal outpost was established on the lands of Atara last year. The outpost is located on Area B of the West Bank, which is supposed to be under Palestinian civil control, as no settlers are allowed to live there.
Haaretz said that residents of Atara living on lands adjacent to the outpost were expelled through a closed military zone order issued by the Israel Defense Forces, ostensibly to prevent clashes.
While the order has since expired, residents have refrained from returning to their homes due to fear of continued attacks by settlers, given that the outpost still stands.
The security cabinet earlier this year reportedly ordered the army to dismantle any illegal outpost built in Area B, though the directive has not been fully implemented. Wildcat settler communities in Area C — which is under both security and civil control of Israel — have been allowed to mushroom throughout the West Bank at unprecedented levels under the current government.
Separately Friday, the Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news agency reported that settlers torched and vandalized several vehicles in the central West Bank Palestinian village........