Mladenov: ‘settlers’ stone-throwing attack on Hamdallah’s convoy is very concerning’

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov, stated that the Israeli settlers’ stone-throwing attack on Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah’s convoy last week is “very concerning.”

Mladenov said on Thursday in a statement to the Anadolu Agency that such attack “is unacceptable and the attackers must be brought to justice.”

He continued: “Stone-throwing can cause death. The incident took place in the same spot where Mrs Aisha Rabi lost her life last October. This violence must stop immediately.”

The Palestinian government revealed today that the convoy of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was attacked by Israeli settlers last week.

The Palestinian government’s spokesperson, Youssef Al–Mahmoud, indicated in a statement that stone-throwing settlers targeted the prime minister’s convoy at the Za’tara military checkpoint in the north of the West Bank, which resulted in the injury of 2 of his companions, Anadolu Agency reported.

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Al-Mahmoud noted that the attack took place at 2:00 am on 25 December, when the convoy returned from Bethlehem escorting Hamdallah who participated in the midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The government spokesman did not explain the nature of the injury and the damages in detail. However, he referred to the incident as an act of terrorism, and confirmed that “these attacks will only increase our determination to confront the Israeli occupation and the settlers.”

He pointed out that the incident took place in the same location where Aisha Rabi was martyred in October last year after a group of settlers threw stones at her vehicle.

The attacks carried on in the West Bank by settlers, known as the Price Tag groups, increased by 60 per cent in 2017, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

The Price Tag groups are composed of Israeli settlers who target villages and properties belonging to Palestinian citizens in the West Bank.

Estimates made by the Israeli and Palestinian sides have indicated the presence of some 670,000 settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements, living in 196 settlements and 200 settler outposts.