Israeli settlers Wednesday evening attacked Palestinian houses in al-Mazra’a al-Gharbiya village, northwest of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, according to local sources. They said that scores of extremist settlers, under army protection, closed the road leading to the village and descended upon it before attacking a house and the villagers who attempted to protect their village. The assailants deliberately wreaked destruction in their way, igniting fires, vandalizing a number of nearby agricultural rooms and uprooting dozens of trees in the area. Instead of any action to stop the attack, Israeli occupation soldiers cracked down on the villagers, showering them with volleys of tear gas canisters and causing dozens to suffocate. Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities. Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others. There are over 700,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA