Israel military helicopter sent to support settler attack on Palestinians in West Bank

An Israeli military helicopter brought army reinforcements to the occupied West Bank to support a settler attack on Palestinian lands, Villages Group reported eyewitnesses saying.

On 14 February, settlers who had threatened to kill a Palestinian earlier in the day, helped a military helicopter land near Fakhit, a village in the Hebron hills. “Masked soldiers came out of the helicopter, which took off and brought another group of soldiers to the same place,” Villages Group reported.

The settlers then headed to Al-Majaz and helped the helicopter land there, where masked soldiers disembarked. The settlers flew a drone over the Palestinian village, while occupation forces stormed the house of Palestinian Sheikh Khaled Al-Amour, “shackled him and his son Abed and covered their faces, led them out of the house and put them on a Skoda car, driven to a military camp nearby.”

The house was ransacked and the family’s belongings and furniture were damaged and vandalised. The family’s livestock was also injured during the raid.

Two hours after the helicopter left the area, it returned, Villages Group said, this time occupation forces headed to the mosque, where they ignored a local’s cries for them to use a key to enter the building, choosing to break in with a hammer, vandalise the mosque furniture and electricity cables.M., the Palestinian who had offered to provide the key to the mosque, later had his tractor driver’s license confiscated and his house was damaged by the occupation forces.

Highlighting the fact that settler attacks on Palestinians have increased since 7 October, Villages Group said: “Still, recruiting an army helicopter in order to help the settlers harass the villagers – this is a first. We know the government backs up the settlers, but seeing this rise so sharply, the use of an air force vessel – demands comprehensive inquiry both in the army and the air force.”

Read: Israel occupation forces kill two more Palestinians in West Bank raid