JERUSALEM: Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian home in the south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank overnight, breaking in and killing sheep, a Palestinian official said Tuesday. It was the latest in a surge of attacks by settlers against Palestinians in the territory in recent months.
Israeli police said they arrested five settlers.
The settlers killed three sheep and injured four more, smashed a door and a window of the home, and fired tear gas inside, sending three Palestinian children under the age of 4 to the hospital, said Amir Dawood, who directs an office documenting such attacks within a Palestinian governmental body called the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.
Police said they arrested the five settlers on suspicion of trespassing onto Palestinian land, damaging property and dispensing pepper spray, not tear gas. They said they are investigating.
CCTV video from the attack in the town of As Samu’, shared by the commission, showed five masked settlers in dark clothing, some with batons, approaching the home and appearing to enter. Sounds of smashing are heard, as well as animal noises. Another video from inside shows masked figures appearing to strike sheep in the stable.
Photos of the aftermath, also shared by the commission, show smashed car windows and a shattered front door. Bloodied sheep lie dead as others stand with blood staining their wool. Inside the home, photos show broken glass and the furniture ransacked.
Dawood said it was the second settler attack on the family in less than two months. He called it “part of a systematic and ongoing pattern of settler violence targeting Palestinian civilians, their property and their means of livelihood, carried out with impunity under the protection of the Israeli occupation.”
During October’s olive harvest, settlers across the territory launched an average of eight attacks daily, the most since the United Nations humanitarian office began collecting data in 2006. The attacks continued in November, with the UN recording at least 136 by Nov. 24.
Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza — areas claimed by the Palestinians for a future state — in the 1967 war. It has settled over 500,000 Jews in the West Bank, in addition to over 200,000 in contested East Jerusalem.
Israel’s government is dominated by far-right proponents of the settler movement, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Cabinet Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the nation’s police force. Earlier this week, Smotrich said the Israeli cabinet had approved a proposal for 19 new Jewish settlements, another blow to the possibility of a Palestinian state.
Israeli settlers forcibly enter Palestinian home in latest West Bank attack
https://arab.news/2v5w7
Israeli settlers forcibly enter Palestinian home in latest West Bank attack
- The settlers killed three sheep and injured four more, smashed a door and a window of the home
- Police said they arrested the five settlers on suspicion of trespassing onto Palestinian land
Zindani govt begins reshaping security leadership
- US backing for the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council’s efforts
ADEN: Yemen’s government under Prime Minister Shaya Al-Zindani has begun implementing a series of decisions to restructure the leadership of the security services, in a move seen as a significant step toward reorganizing state institutions in the temporary capital, Aden.
It comes amid renewed US support for the Presidential Leadership Council’s efforts to bolster stability, combat terrorism and safeguard international maritime routes.
The chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, issued two presidential decrees appointing Brig. Gen. Abdulsalam Qaid Abdulqawi Al-Jamali as commander of the Special Security Forces and Brig. Gen. Abdulsalam Abdulrab Ahmed Al-Omari as head of the Civil Defense Authority, with both officers promoted to the rank of major general.
The decisions are part of a broader Yemeni effort to rebuild the leadership structure of security institutions, while strengthening the state’s capacity to enforce security and stability in liberated areas amid the country’s multiple security challenges.
Alongside the presidential decrees, Yemeni Interior Minister Ibrahim Haidan issued a series of leadership changes within Aden’s security services, including the reassignment of several security officials, as part of a plan aimed at improving operational efficiency and strengthening coordination among units.
The decisions included reassigning Brig. Gen. Jalal Al-Rubaie from his post as commander of the National Security Forces to lead the Special Security Forces in Aden, as well as appointing Brig. Gen. Mohammed Abdo Al-Subeihi as deputy director general of Aden Police and assistant for security affairs.
The appointments also included Brig. Gen. Jalal Fadl Al-Qutaibi as assistant director general of Aden Police for human resources and financial affairs; Brig. Gen. Mohammed Khaled Haidara Al-Turki as assistant director general for operations; Brig. Gen. Hassan Mohsen Saleh Al-Omari as director of the Criminal Investigation Department, with Col. Fouad Mohammed Ali appointed as his deputy; and Lt. Col. Mayas Haidara Al-Jaadani as director of the Anti-Narcotics Department.
The Yemeni Ministry of Interior said the measures are intended to reorganize field operations, raise security readiness levels, accelerate response time to threats and improve institutional discipline within security agencies. It believes the changes will help consolidate stability in the temporary capital of Aden and improve security and service performance in the city.
Yemeni-American Partnership
The government’s steps coincided with a meeting between Al-Alimi and US Ambassador to Yemen Steven H. Fagin, during which they reviewed the latest developments at the local level.
The two sides also discussed the US and international support required to strengthen Yemen’s capacity to confront security and terrorist threats, protect vital facilities and secure international shipping lanes, noting that this is an issue of regional and global priority amid escalating tensions
According to an official media source, Al-Alimi reiterated his appreciation of the Yemeni-American partnership and praised Washington’s role in supporting the implementation of resolutions to prohibit the smuggling of Iranian arms to the Houthi militia, drying up their funding sources and curbing destabilizing operations.
Al-Alimi highlighted the importance of reinforcing joint deterrence against regional threats, including the need to strictly enforce international sanctions and to pursue financing, smuggling and arms networks, in support of the government’s efforts to extend state control across all Yemeni territory.
He added that the security of the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab Strait is a global concern that requires broad international coordination.
Al-Alimi said that the Yemeni government is exerting efforts to normalize economic and service conditions, and to implement plans designed to integrate forces and unify security and military decision-making processes. He added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supported these efforts, as it has played a pivotal role in advancing stability and rebuilding state institutions.
