A number of Palestinian citizens suffered injuries on Friday when the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) attacked them as they were trying to fend off a horde of Jewish settlers in al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya village south of Nablus in the West Bank.
According to local sources dozens of settlers escorted by soldiers stormed the historic Khan al-Lubban caravansary in al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya village after the IOF declared the area a closed military zone and blocked all the routes leading to it.
Soon later local residents rushed to the caravansary to ward off the settlers but the IOF physically assaulted them and showered them with tear gas.
The caravansary which is owned by a local resident called Khaled Daraghmeh has been exposed to frequent attacks before by settlers with the aim of seizing the place and annexing it to nearby illegal settlements.
In December last year Jewish settlers from the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Levona wreaked havoc on the caravansary in the village destroying doors water pipelines its spring and many orange trees.
Khan al-Lubban dates back to the Ottoman era and stretches over an area of 300 dunums.
