Early on Sunday morning, assailants carried out a horrific attack on three Italian nationals and a Canadian volunteer in Ein al-Duyuk. This little village just outside of Jericho, on the West Bank. Those volunteers largely focused on defending the Palestinian population from settler violence. Within a few months, they were on the receiving end of an even more aggressive intrusion.
The attack unfolded around 4:30 AM when ten masked Israeli settlers, two of whom carried army-issued rifles, stormed the home where the volunteers were sleeping. Witness accounts describe the settlers hurling insults in Arabic. They argued that the volunteers lacked standing to be in the vicinity. The attack lasted nearly 15 minutes. Throughout that time, the assailants racially and systematically assaulted all four young people, just before they made their escape.
In the aftermath of the incident, all four volunteers required hospitalization. We can now share that one of the Italian nationals is today still receiving medical care in Ramallah. The recent attack on the Capitol demonstrates the opposite—an alarming trend. According to news reports, violent attacks against Palestinians by settlers now occur daily across the region.
Ein al-Duyuk is located in Area A of the West Bank, territory that according to the Oslo Accords is administered solely by the Palestinian Authority. The settlers’ presence there is illegal—under international agreements, Israelis are forbidden from entering this area, though it’s part of their historic homeland. Manal Tamimi, a young Palestinian activist, stressed the rising violence against Palestinians in the country. She pointed out that since the building of this new outpost close to the Jewish village, extremist wing settlers instead settled there. These settlers are very violent and seem to have an organized leader.
Tamimi was quick to call attention to the amazing fortitude of the people living there. He said, “The locals don’t want to evacuate from their home, so we need to connect them with international volunteers.”
The intensity and frequency of these attacks have surged significantly over the past two months, correlating with the establishment of a nearby settler outpost. These actions have alarmed foreign governments who worry about the safety of their citizens conducting humanitarian work.
Antonio Tajani, Foreign Minister of Italy, expressed outrage at the aggression directed against the volunteers. He said, “We have seen enough of this bravado. This is not how they go about practicing their rights. Tajani’s comments speak to a wider issue of how international volunteers are treated in areas affected by conflict.
“The villagers stood taller while we were present. The children played freely. People slept through the night. That alone made our presence worthwhile.”
Ein al-Duyuk represents the mounting pressures and anger in the West Bank. It is around here that at least weekly, Israeli settlers confront and violently disperse local Palestinian communities. Although international laws ban the expansion of settlements and violence against civilians, these acts are carried out with sickening regularity.