HEBRON / Anadolu

A Palestinian child was injured on Wednesday after being run over by an Israeli settler in the city of Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank.

Mukhles Ammar al-Salayma, father of the child Mukhles al-Salayma (6 years old), told Anadolu that an Israeli settler deliberately ran over his son while he was playing with children near the '160' military checkpoint, then fled.

He added that the child sustained bruises to his face and was taken to the hospital, where he is undergoing medical tests to check on his health.

The Israeli military checkpoint '160' is located at the entrance of Haret al-Salayma (al-Salayma neighborhood) in the old city of Hebron, and separates several neighborhoods from the rest of the city.

The checkpoint forces residents of those neighborhoods to pass through it and undergo inspection and prior registration procedures, creating a daily obstacle to their movement.

Students and employees are also forced to take longer routes to reach their schools and workplaces.

The checkpoint witnesses repeated attacks on Palestinians and continuous closures, in addition to specifying opening hours for Palestinian movement, which increases the isolation of the neighborhoods behind it from the rest of Hebron.

The West Bank has been witnessing continuous escalation since October 2023, consisting of incursions and arrests by the Israeli army, alongside attacks by settlers against Palestinians and their property.