Four Palestinian minors, ranging in age between 12 and 14 years, sustained injuries after being pepper-sprayed in the face by an Israeli settler in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in occupied Jerusalem, according to local sources.

Sources told WAFA a settler pepper sprayed four minor girls while they were training to perform dabkeh folk dance during an artistic event held in the neighborhood, which caused them burns to the face.

The settler chased after the four girls after pepper spraying them and then filed a complaint with Israeli police. The police detained two Palestinian youth after the attack and did nothing to the settler.

Dozens of families in Sheikh Jarrah have been facing the imminent risk of forced expulsion from their homes for the benefit of Israeli settlers.

As the occupying power, Israel has the obligation to protect the Palestinian population in the West Bank from all acts or threats of violence. This requires the Israeli authorities to do more to prevent attacks by Israeli settlers and intervene effectively in real-time to stop them, said a UN OCHA report.

“Once attacks have occurred, the authorities must enhance their efforts to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable, including by removing barriers discouraging Palestinians from complaining and improving the effectiveness of investigations,” it said.

Israeli settlers’ vandalism in the occupied West Bank is routine and is done with full backing by the Israeli authorities, said the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

“Settler violence and vandalism take place with full backing by the Israeli authorities. Sometimes soldiers take part in the assault; at other times, they stand idly by. The police makes no substantial effort to investigate the incidents, nor takes measures to prevent them or stop them in real-time,” it said.

Israel benefits from the repercussions, as settler violence has gradually dispossessed Palestinians of more and more areas in the West Bank, paving the way for a state takeover of land and resources, said B’Tselem.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency