Armed settlers attack Palestinians across the occupied West Bank

Palestinian sources have reported that groups of Israeli settlers have attacked civilians across the occupied West Bank. In the village of Burqa near Nablus, two cars were set on fire by settlers who also stormed into the owner’s house, destroyed property and beat the inhabitants. Dozens of settlers uprooted 176 grape trees belonging to Palestinian farmers in the town of Halhoul near Hebron.

In occupied East Jerusalem, meanwhile, another group of illegal Jewish settlers set fire to a tent used by protesters against the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah district. The Israeli authorities have allowed settlers to occupy the homes.

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According to the PLO’s Tayseer Khaled, settlers’ attacks on Palestinian property have been planned in collaboration with the Israel Defence Forces to coincide with the Palestinian move for statehood at the UN. The PLO Executive Committee member said that this is an attempt “to provoke a violent Palestinian response to give the Israeli government a pretext to disrupt the Palestinians’ application to the UN for recognition of an independent state.”