Palestinian popular committees formed to protect against settler attacks

Fatah has announced the formation of popular committees to defend the city against Jewish settler attacks in the city of Qalqilya, located in the northern area of the occupied West Bank.

The Secretary-General of Fatah in Qalqilya, Mahmoud Walweel, said that “Fatah decided to form defence committees in all residential areas close to settlement hotbeds. This is in accordance with the Palestinian leadership’s approach to ensure that extremist settler groups are not successful in their attacks against our people across the city.”

In a press release issued by Walweel yesterday, a copy of which was obtained by Quds Press, he stressed the importance of “raising the level of preparedness to its highest level and mobilising popular and official efforts.”

“We must also include all parts of the Palestinian community in foiling any potential attacks by all means necessary available and in any way legal under international law,” the statement added.

Jewish settlers have recently escalated their attacks and violations against Palestinians and their property in a series of what have come to be euphemistically known as “price tag” attacks. A recent incident in the village of Duma, south of Nablus, involved the murder of a young Palestinian child and serious injuries to his family when their home was set alight by Israeli settlers.