Israeli soldiers Sunday assaulted and beat up two young Palestinian women during an incursion in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, according to local sources. Mohammad Awad, coordinator of the Anti-Settlement Committee in the town, said an Israeli army force stormed the house of Khalil Abu-Dayyeh, a local Palestinian, and brutally assaulted his daughter, 20-year-old Nabila, leaving bruises throughout her body. While the army assaulted and pepper sprayed 22-year-old Jamila Abu-Dayyeh, clashes erupted between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youths in the same town. The soldiers used teargas canisters and rubber-coated bullets, causing multiple cases of suffocation by teargas inhalation. Incidents of violence by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, including children and women, have regularly been reported, either during Israeli arrest operations, home searches and raids, violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations, or while serving jail sentences in Israeli jails. Many Palestinians have been injured or shot dead on sight for allegedly assaulting Israeli soldiers despite the fact they usually pose no threat to the lives of soldiers. On July 23, Israeli army and undercover forces raided a house in Beit Ummar and shot dead an unarmed Palestinian elderly, 53-year-old Falah Abu-Maria, and injured his two sons, Mohammad and Ahmed, with live ammunition.
