Settlers and right-wing extremists took over a small children's playground in the illegal Palestinian encampment of Susiya, located in the South Hebron Hills region of the West Bank over the weekend.
The village, whose fate has been part of a protracted legal battle, is located near the Israeli settlement of Susiya.
The left-wing group Peace Now said, however, that the group of settlers was not from the settlement but rather was mainly from a nearby settler outpost that was established in the last few months.
It's unusual for Israeli civilians to take over a park with swings and a seesaw.
Palestinian activist Basel Adra posted a video of the event that showed Jewish teens dressed in Shabbat clothing, standing in the park, near a fluttering Palestinian flag, while the Palestinians stood outside. A number of the teenagers also had dogs.
extremist settlers stormed the village of Susiya shortly before Where they stormed a children's park and this was done under the protection of the army. The settlers wandered inside the village and between the homes of the citizens,which left fear in the hearts of the residents. pic.twitter.com/YnEyprYlFS
— Basel Adra (@basel_adra) November 6, 2021
Soldiers could be seen standing by the park's gate, such that it appeared as if they were keeping the Israeli teens in the park, and the Palestinians out.
One activist yelled at the soldiers in Hebrew, "You're standing here as if it's your f**king job to protect terrorists."
Adra said the settlers had also walked through the Susiya encampment.
The IDF said that with the help of border police and police, it was able to clear Palestinians out of the park fairly quickly. Separately on Saturday, near Nablus, settlers and Palestinians clashed near the village of Burin.
It's the second time in less than a month that violence has broken out there. In October, the left-wing group Yesh Din photographed settlers and right-wing extremists throwing stones at a Palestinian home on the edge of the village.
This week Yesh Din published a video and photographs shot on Saturday that similarly showed settlers stoning the same home,
"At the time of the attack, family members, including children, were at home," Yesh Din. It charged that the soldiers present at the scene did nothing to stop the violence.
"The attack itself lasted about a quarter of an hour, during which more residents from Burin arrived to help the family members defend themselves. At this point, the soldiers fired tear gas grenades at the Palestinians. Two Burin residents were injured from the stones that were thrown at them," it said.
The IDF said that it responded to a report of a clash between settlers and Palestinians near the Givat Ronen outpost, which included physical altercations and stone-throwing from both sides.
The number of soldiers that initially arrived at the scene lacked the necessary force to disperse the situation and waited for backup before taking action to halt the violence, the IDF said.
It said that the videos and photos from the scene provided only a partial narrative of what had occurred.