May 28, 2012

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Palestinian man was shot and wounded by a Jewish man from a nearby West Bank settlement.

The incident on May 26 occurred near the Palestinian village of Orif in the northern West Bank near Nablus. The settler came from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar.

Orif residents said the incident occurred after settlers set fire to fields belonging to the village.

Yitzhar residents say that the Palestinians set fire to fields near the homes of Yitzhar residents, and that the Palestinian man pulled a knife on its emergency readiness team that came with the fire crews to put out the blaze. They also pointed out that Jews do not light fires on the Jewish Sabbath.

The Israel Defense Forces said it is investigating the incident, which was recorded by the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem.

The incident comes a week after a video distributed by B’tselem showed Yitzhar residents firing on a group of rock-throwing Palestinians as Israeli soldiers look on. It also shows Palestinians and settlers hurling rocks at each other as smoke rises from fires started in the underbrush. Both sides claim that the other began the rock throwing and set the fires.

The army said Monday it had begun an investigation into the latter incident.
 

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