Palestinian killed as Israeli settlers attack West Bank town of Huwara

A Palestinian has been killed when a group of Israeli settlers attacked the town of Huwara, amid a surge in settler violence across the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Labib Dumaidi, 19, was shot in the heart by an Israeli settler, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Friday.

Relatives said he had sought refuge on the roof of his home, which was under assault from settlers, when a settler shot him.

The Israeli military has offered a different account, stating that a suspect was shot after throwing a brick at a vehicle, but offering no details on the victim’s identity.

“More than 200 settlers gathered in the middle of Huwara after midnight, shouting and dancing, some of them with covered faces,” Palestinian resident Abderrahman Dmidi told the news agency AFP.

“They began throwing stones towards some houses, and then the young people … tried to defend their homes by throwing stones,” he added. Residents said Israeli soldiers turned a blind eye to the violence.

“It’s clear that the settler militias are protected by the occupation’s soldiers,” Thaer Qawareeq, an employee at a supermarket damaged by the settlers in Huwara, told the Reuters news agency. He added that it was the third time that settlers had assaulted the store.