Matan Fogel was one of two settlers lightly injured Thursday in an altercation
with Palestinians on Hill 777, an outpost near Itamar in the West Bank. Matan is
the younger brother of Udi Fogel, whom two adolescent Palestinians murdered
along with his wife and three children 13 months ago.
Settler sources
said that Fogel and the second man injured had been herding sheep when a group
of Palestinians began stoning them and beating them with clubs.
Following
the incident, Matan and his companion were taken to the hospital by Magen David
Adom paramedics on the scene.
In contrast, the Palestinians involved
claimed that the two settlers attacked them first while they were farming near
Kfar Yanoun.
According to the Palestinian account, three Palestinians
were wounded in the fight and five were subsequently arrested by security
forces.
A Palestinian Authority official stated that the Palestinians
were assaulted by the settlers while tending to their fields, the Palestinian
news agency Ma’an reported.
The incident represents the second
altercation between Israeli shepherds and Palestinians in the area in the last
week. The altercations started shortly after Palestinians began farming in the
restricted area of Harish.