Israel settlers burn Palestinian land in West Bank

Israeli settlers yesterday burned olive trees owned by Palestinians in the West Bank’s northern occupied city of Nablus.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told Wafa that a “group of settlers from the illegal Har Brakha settlement in Nablus had stolen olives from land owned by Omar Youssuf Al-Qenni in Kafr Qalil town.”

“The Israeli settlers set fire to dozens of olive trees in the land between the Jorish and Qusra villages, near the illegal Israeli settlement of Majdolim,” Daghlas added.

The Palestinian official warned of an “escalation of settler attacks as we approach the beginning of the olive harvest season,” adding that they were targeting Palestinian farmers and lands, “especially in the areas adjacent to their settlements.”

READ: Settler set fire to Palestine olive grove near Nablus

Settler attacks on Palestinian farmers and their lands were reported to have escalated in recent months, coinciding with the start of the olive harvest season. Palestinians say that the Israeli authorities allow settlers to continue their attacks with no consequences as part of official efforts to intensify settlement construction in the occupied territories.

Some 650,000 Israelis are currently living illegally in the West Bank, scattered across 164 settlements and 124 outposts.

Under international law, all Jewish settlements and outposts in occupied territories are considered illegal.