Jewish settlers attack Palestinians in the West Bank

3/18/2005 1:00:00 PM GMT

About 40 Jewish settlers, wielding clubs and stones, attacked a group of eight Palestinian workers entering the West Bank settlement of Nahliel, injuring at least five, Israeli police said.

The assault took place on Thursday, according to Israel’s Haaretz daily.

The paper said that the Palestinians were legally contracted to work in the Nahliel settlement, west of the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Five of the Palestinians needed hospital treatment after the attack which left at least one man unconscious.

Army sources told Haaretz that the Palestinians were severely beaten and that they were "almost lynched," an expression describing an execution of defenseless victims.

"By the time officers reached the settlement, which is relatively isolated, the assailants had escaped," a police spokesman said. “But we are investigating the incident and expect to make arrests in the next few hours,”

One of the wounded said that he wasn’t aware why they were attacked. "One of my colleagues fell down and they beat him, said Muki Shakarni, "I tried to protect him but they beat me. I lost consciousness and only came round in the hospital".

Local Palestinian laborers are often employed in Jewish settlements despite tensions between the Palestinians and the settlers.

Settlers destroy Palestinian house in Hebron

Meanwhile, a group of settlers destroyed the roof of a Palestinian house in Hebron, the Haaretz said on Friday.

The incident occurred on Wednesday when a group of settlers struck the walls of the building with hammers.

They also threw stones, eggs and water bombs at Israeli forces guarding the site, injuring a policeman and damaging a police vehicle, the daily said.

The settlers attacked the officer while he was shooting them striking the building with hammers, police spokesman Shlomi Seguy was quoted as saying.

Israel bans the relocation of Jewish settlers into Gaza

Also Friday, the Israeli government banned its citizens from moving to Jewish settlements slated for evacuation in the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to prevent more pullout opponents from flocking the area as new settlers.

The ban, "prohibiting the relocation of Israeli citizens into the Gaza Strip," was ordered by the army following reports that hundreds of people recently moved to all the 21 Gaza settlements.

"The decree was signed in accordance with the decision made by the political echelon and part of the preparations to implement the government decision to carry out the disengagement plan," the military said in a statement.

Under international law, all settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem are considered illegal.