Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Maon east of the village of Yatta in the southern occupied West Bank uprooted tens of olive tree saplings and sprayed poisonous pesticides on Palestinian crops on Thursday.
Coordinator of the popular committee against the Israeli wall and settlements in the southern West Bank Ratib al-Jbour told Ma’an that Israeli settlers raided agricultural lands belonging to Fadel Jibril Moussa Rabiaa and his brothers in the village of al-Tawana near Yatta.
The settlers reportedly cut the wires on the fence surrounding the lands, uprooted tens of olive trees, and sprayed pesticides in the area.
Israeli settlers commonly attack Palestinians and their properties, particularly in Palestinian villages in the West Bank close to Israel’s illegal settlements. Settlers are very rarely reprimanded by Israeli authorities for such attacks, which they often carry out in the presence of armed Israeli forces.
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, with recent announcements of settlement expansion provoking condemnation from the international community.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there were a total of 107 reported settler attacks against Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem in 2016.
