December 6th, 2008

A Palestinian family of the Old City of Hebron had the top floor of their home torched by a mob of settlers early Saturday morning.

In addition to the fire the violent settlers also attacked the lower floors of the home, completely ransacking and ruining the Al-’Uweiwi family’s kitchen. During the attack Nidal Al-’Uweiwi, his wife and his nine children were all forced to barricade themselves inside a small room of the house so as to not be attacked by the settlers.

Though a fire truck was able to reach the scene some time after the flames began, this was only after the family had been rescued from the home by Palestinian Authority police officers. Two of the officers and all of the family were taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke annihilation.

This attack comes with the long string of settler violence that has occurred in and around Hebron since the eviction of settlers from the illegally occupied Rajabi house on Thursday. It is likely that the settlers involved in the attack came from the nearby Abraham Avino settlement, whose occupants can easily access the roof of the Al-’Uweiwi home despite an adjacent military watch base. The family reported to have seen settlers loitering around on the roof for some time before the attack and recognized one of the settlers as Miriam Levinger, an Israeli settler known for her particularly violent and hateful actions.

The Israeli authorities were informed of the attack, though since arriving at the house on Saturday morning have done little to find the attackers. The eleven members of the family are now left to repair the massive damages on their own.