Usamah Daghlas, 16, a teenager from the Palestinian town of Burqa, northern Nablus, was attacked yesterday by a group of 20 settlers close to the evacuated settlement of Homesh, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

He had gone out to play with his cousin in Al Qusour, an area between Homesh and Burqa, where the families of Burqa spend their leisure time, when they were approached by a group of Israeli youth.

His cousin was able to outrun the Israelis, but Usamah was not.

“20 of them cornered me, I was afraid and nervous. They started throwing rocks at me, and I fell unconscious.”

The settlers beat Usamah, and dragged him all the way to Homesh, atop a hill after tearing his clothes. They then rolled him down the hill.

After Usamah regained consciousness and attempted to reach his house, 200 meters away from the abandoned settlement, settlers threw sonic grenades at him, leading to him hitting his head on a rock and falling unconscious again.

“They thought I was dead, so they left me,” says Usamah.

Usamah says that he did not commit a crime by going to Al Qusour with his cousin, because it is Palestinian land.

“I will go there again tomorrow, and every day. This land is ours, and I will be ready to fend them off this time,” said the Palestinian teenager.