Security forces are investigating a report that settlers beat Wael Muqbel after "dragging" him from his home in the middle of the night in the Qaryout village in the aftermath of Thursday night's West Bank terror attack outside Homesh that claimed the life of Yehuda Dimentman, 25.
Police are investigating the incident with support from the army.
Muqbel, 61, said that his wife Smeehah heard a knock at the door and woke him up at 3 a.m. so he could go and see who was there.
“I went to the door and saw that they [the attackers] had broken the glass on the door. When I opened the door, I saw that one of them was dressed as a soldier,” Muqbel recalled.
“He said, ‘We are the army.’ They had someone with them. I thought he was my son, who returns late from work.
“I opened the door because I thought they were the army. As soon as I opened the door, they dragged me outside of the house,” Muqbel said.
It was at this point that they beat him, Muqbel said.
“I was injured in the eye and other parts of my face, as well as four broken ribs. They wanted to kill me. I lost consciousness,” Muqbel said.
The attackers also ransacked the house while Smeehah hid in the bedroom.
“They smashed everything inside the house. They damaged my car. They also damaged my tractor. They damaged our new kitchen. They also damaged the balcony at my brother’s home,” Muqbel said.
He has since been hospitalized in Nablus, where he was treated for four broken ribs and injuries to his eyes and face.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said he was “alarmed by the escalating violence” that included both the Palestinian killing of Dimentman and “several retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers.”
“I condemn all acts of violence and terrorism and appeal to all sides to de-escalate the situation,” Wennesland said.