A 14-year-old Palestinian girl, Dalal al-Hawamdeh, was
injured after being run over by an Israeli settler in the town of Sammou, south
of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. This incident is part of a broader pattern
of increased settler violence in Hebron since October 2023, involving physical
assaults, vandalism, and property theft, amid ongoing Israeli military
operations.
Incident Overview
As reported by the Wafa news agency on 1 September 2025,
Dalal al-Hawamdeh, a 14-year-old Palestinian girl, sustained bruises and
injuries to various parts of her body after being run over by an Israeli
settler in Sammou, located south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Dalal was
transferred to a local hospital for medical treatment. At the time of
reporting, further details surrounding the incident remained unspecified.
Escalation of Settler Violence in Hebron
According to the same Wafa news report, Israeli settlers
have intensified attacks on Palestinians in the Hebron governorate following
the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza in October 2023. These attacks include not
only physical violence but also acts of vandalism, arson, theft of property,
seizure of land, and widespread intimidation against the Palestinian
population.
This pattern of violence is corroborated by data from the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
which has documented over 1,000 assaults by Israeli settlers across the
occupied West Bank in the first eight months of 2025 alone. These assaults have
resulted in injuries, property destruction, or both, often carried out with
apparent impunity and sometimes under the protection or tacit approval of
Israeli military forces.
Context: Broader Military and Settler Activities in the West Bank
Al Jazeera's report from late August 2025 highlighted
broader Israeli military operations across key West Bank cities—including
Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, and Ramallah—resulting in numerous arrests and
injuries. Gunfire exchanges, raids, and settler aggressions have dramatically
affected Palestinian livelihoods.
The report noted that five Palestinians, including a girl,
were wounded by Israeli gunfire south of Hebron, and separate settler attacks
caused injuries to a Palestinian couple in Masafer Yatta. Palestinian
properties near Bethlehem's Kisan village were invaded by settlers who stole
possessions while being shielded by the Israeli military.
Palestinian Authority Response and Cultural Concerns
The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem governorate has
condemned not only physical violence but also unauthorized Israeli excavations
and demolitions near the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. It stated that these acts are
intentionally targeting Islamic artefacts from the Umayyad era, attempting to
erase Muslim heritage to pave the way for constructing a Jewish temple in the
future, underscoring the cultural and religious dimensions of the conflict.
Previous Similar Incidents
Multiple prior incidents in Hebron and other parts of the
West Bank reflect a worrying trend of settler violence against Palestinian
children and civilians. Some reports cite Israeli settlers deliberately running
over Palestinian children, including an 8-year-old girl in Hebron Old City and
other similar attacks with injuries and hospitalisations.
Since October 2023, according to OCHA and Wafa, Israeli security forces and settlers have killed at least 671 Palestinians, including 129 children. The continuing escalation of settler violence, combined with military operations, has contributed to an environment of fear, instability, and human rights concerns among the Palestinian population in the West Bank.