Israel settlers set fire to 300 trees in Palestinian village

Palestinian farmers inspect the damage done to their olive trees by Israeli settlers [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency]

Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian orchards near Nablus in the occupied West Bank yesterday evening, burning some 300 olive trees, according to reports.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official responsible for monitoring Israeli settlement-related violations, said that settlers launched an incendiary balloon into the orchard.

Daghlas also claimed that the settlers had come from the illegal Havat Gilad settlement in order to launch the attack on Al-Tal village’s orchards.

Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law, a position affirmed by, among other things, the United Nations Security Council.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem experience frequent attacks by settlers, including both vandalism of property, as well as assaults on civilians.

Read: Israel settlers uproot olive trees in Nablus

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