Jewish settlers escalate attacks on Palestinian properties in occupied West Bank

Jewish settlers have escalated their attacks against Palestinians in Nablus, throwing stones and petrol bombs at Palestinian-owned cars and properties on Wednesday night. Witnesses said that settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar also closed the main street in the area.

Israeli sources said that the attacks were in response to an incident earlier in the day when a bus used by Israelis was hit by gunfire. Although the bus was damaged, no casualties were reported. According to Haaretz, however, an Israeli bus driver had thrown a Palestinian, named as Muhammad Barakat, off his bus and threatened to shoot him. Barakat told the newspaper that the driver told him to hand over his identity card “and threatened to put a bullet in my head2.

In Jenin, meanwhile, Israeli security forces forced open the door of a house and set fire to the interior. Nobody was hurt in the arson attack but neighbours said that the house belonging to Ahmed Ghazzaawi, 22, was damaged very badly. No reason was given by the authorities for the incident.