RAMALLAH, West Bank — Burqa, a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, has been in a state of extreme alert, due to the repeated attacks by hundreds of settlers on its residents, since the Israeli army announced Dec. 16 that a settler was killed and two others were wounded at the entrance to the evacuated Homesh settlement, located close to the village.
Since then, Burqa, as well as other villages including Sebastia and Silat ad-Dhahr, have witnessed a series of attacks and incursions by settlers, protected by the army, which the Palestinians met with marches and almost daily confrontations, resulting in dozens wounded after live and rubber bullets were fired. The residents of Burqa, which stretches over 1,000 dunams (247 acres) and is home to about 4,500 people, fear that the settlers will return to rebuild the Homesh settlement. The latter was set up over 900 dunams (222 acres) that were confiscated from the village’s lands, and another 50 dunams (12 acres) belonging to the nearby Silat ad-Dhahr village town. The settlement was evacuated by the Israeli authorities in 2005. Shavei Shomron still stands on its land to the south.
Burqa has turned into the center for the confrontation with settlers in the West Bank, with young men from the various surrounding villages and towns heading to the village often to counter the incursions of settlers and the army. Ghassan Daghlas, an official who monitors settlement activity in the West Bank, told Al-Monitor, “Since a settler was killed, thousands of settlers tried to launch three large-scale attacks on the village, but the residents countered them. The village was a scene for confrontations with the settlers and the army until the early morning hours [of Dec. 19].”
He said that the 11 young men were wounded after live bullets were fired in the confrontations with the settlers. One of them has serious injuries, and more than 70 people were wounded by live bullets. He noted that the residents are in a state of alert, and the Israeli army deliberately intensified the use of tear gas in every attack.
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