EU spokesperson in al-Quds: Israeli violations, settlers’ attacks in contravention of intl. law

The spokesperson of the European Union in al-Quds, Shadi Othman, says the attacks committed by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank violate the international law.

According to the Palestinian Information Center, Shadi Othman, said on Wednesday that Israel is an occupying power that is obliged, under international law, to fulfill its obligations “but what has been happening on the ground in the recent period directly contradicts these obligations.”

He referred to the recent attack on Mohammed al-Ajlouni, an intellectually disabled young Palestinian man, and the killing of Mohammad Shehadeh.

On Monday, Israeli forces physically assaulted Mohammed al-Ajlouni, a young man suffering from Down syndrome, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the occupied East al-Quds, and tried to arrest him.  A film of the attack went viral and drew condemnation on social media.

A day later, Israeli forces gunned down a 14-year-old Palestinian in the south-central part of the West Bank for, what the regime has called, throwing stones at them.

Muhammed Shahadah was targeted with the forces’ live fire in the town of al-Khader near Bethlehem late Tuesday.

Othman noted that the on-site visits made by the EU representatives that aim to document Israeli violations against the Palestinians constitute part of efforts to hold the Israeli regime accountable for those practices.

Israeli forces destroy four houses, displace 40 Palestinians in al-Khalil

Israeli forces on Wednesday destroyed four houses in the village of Sha’b al-Batm, east of Yatta City, in the West Bank city of al-Khalil.

The PIC cited the coordinator of the Protection and Steadfastness Committees in Masafer Yatta, Fouad al-Amour, as saying that the demolitions left 40 people homeless, adding that they were aimed at expanding a neighboring settlement.

He urged rights groups and international organizations to immediately interfere to put an end to the barbaric practices that are meant to evacuate Palestinians from their lands.