Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Eoghan Rice/Trócaire via Wikimedia Commons
A family harvests crops in the South Hebron Hills, May 18, 2016
(JNS) — Palestinians attacked two 17-year-old Jewish shepherds in the South Hebron Hills on Friday morning with stones and clubs. The incident took place near the Jewish community of Mitzpe Yair.
The teens sustained wounds to their heads and limbs but remained conscious. They escaped to a nearby farm and called for help before being evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva.
Israeli security forces, including significant units from the Judea and Samaria District Police and the IDF, arrived and carried out arrests. Twenty-two suspects involved in the attack and stone-throwing were apprehended and are now under police investigation, authorities said.
Eliram Azoulay, head of the Mount Hebron Regional Council, condemned the attack, adding that it was the third such assault on Jewish shepherds in the area this week. “A number of terrorists attacked them with stones and clubs. Miraculously, they managed to escape despite their injuries,” he said.
Azoulay warned of deteriorating security, pointing to a rise in violent incidents over the past two months. He urged authorities to take immediate action, including clearing illegal construction near Jewish communities and establishing a security perimeter to protect residents.
Pressure groups and NGOs have consistently lobbied the governments of all stripes to take the encroachment of Palestinian Arabs onto Israel’s sovereign territory, including that abutting Jewish population centers, and erecting both permanent and semi-permanent buildings, with a great deal more seriousness.
