Amnesty slams settler playground attack on Palestinian children 

Amnesty International has condemned an attack by Israeli settlers and soldiers against Palestinian children in a playground in the occupied West Bank village of Sussia near Hebron. The incident took place on Saturday, when Israeli soldiers prevented the children and their mothers from having access to the playground in their village.

The playground opened in September having been renovated. Repairs were made to eradicate safety issues.

According to local residents, as soon as the repairs were completed, settlers began to go to the playground and photograph it. They staged a protest and demanded that the Israeli Civil Administration should demolish it because it was built without a permit, Haaretz has reported.

Amnesty described the actions of the Israeli soldiers and settlers as “a new episode in the series of hate crimes” committed by illegal settlers under the protection of the army against the Palestinians by expelling them from “public places, parks and woods”.

Human rights activist Basil Adra, who witnessed the playground incident, told Amnesty that the settlers’ have been doing this every week for some time.

The targeting and arrest of Palestinian children has been a constant Israeli policy – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

READ: 3 Palestinians injured by settler attack in West Bank