Israeli extremists settlers attack Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah

Saturday, 26 December 2009 13:56

Since the early hours of this morning till noon, a group of around 50 orthodox settlers attacked members of the two Palestinians families of Ghawi and Sabbag in the disputed neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The attack left 8 injured Palestinians, mostly children.

The first attack which took place in the early morning targeted Sabbag family when the settlers tried to take over their home in Sheikh Jarrah. During the attempt, clashes erupted between the assailants and Palestinian residents before the arrival of Israeli police which arrested four of the attackers.

The injured members of Sabbag family were identified as: Tamer, Dallal, Um Muhammad, Abed and his pregnant wife. They sustained injuries with stones that pelted their house by the extremist Jewish attackers who also beat some of members of the Palestinian family.

The second attack of settlers took place at noon when a group of 50 extremist settlers attacked the displaced al-Ghawi family, leaving five injured among the family members, in addition to some foreign nationals who were present in solidarity with the Palestinian family.

Among the injured members of the al-Ghawi family: Mustafa, 14; Nasser, 46; Ayman 11; Abdel Rahman and Muhammad al-Ghawi. All of them were transferred to hospital for medical treatment.

JCESR warns of the escalation in extremist settlers' attacks against the Palestinian population of Jerusalem in Sheikh Jarrah during the past 24 hours. The center believes that the semi-daily settlers' riots and attacks against Palestinians entail very serious ramifications to peace in the area.

The center criticizes the way Israeli police shy reaction to attacks of settlers while meanwhile it used to fiercely curb the Palestinian and internationals peace demonstrations in the area.