Jewish settlers chopped dozens of olive trees on Wednesday, in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron (Al-Khalil), the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Fouad al-Imour, a local activist, told WAFA that dozens of Jewish settlers – from the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Yair – chopped 70 olive trees in the village of Khillit al-Dabe, owned by a local resident.
Today, Israeli settlers uprooted & chopped dozens of olive trees in Masafer Yatta area south occupied West Bank
Masafer Yatta regularly comes under assaults by settlers who live in an illegal nearby Israeli settlement built on Palestinian lands
Down with #IsraeliOccupation
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— Friends of Palestine
The settlers had also let their herd of sheep free on planted agricultural land, destroying the crops.
Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.
“Jewish settler violence should not be analyzed separately from the violence meted out by the Israeli army, but seen within the larger context of the violent Zionist ideology that governs Israeli society entirely,” wrote Palestinian author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud.
#UN High Commissioner for #HumanRights: Situation in Palestinian Territories is ‘Disastrous’ https://t.co/vpSyXxsm3J via @PalestineChron #palestine pic.twitter.com/xb6R9NzIX1
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 8, 2021
“Settler violence has long since become part of Palestinians’ daily life under occupation,” according to the Human Rights Group B’tselem. “Israeli security forces enable these actions, which result in Palestinian casualties – injuries and fatalities – as well as damage to land and property. In some cases, they even serve as an armed escort, or even join in the attacks”.
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.
(The Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
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