RAMALLAH: Israeli settler attacks against Palestinian civilians have been on the rise in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Alternative Information Center (AIC) reports. The AIC, a joint Israeli-Palestinian nongovernmental organization based in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, published a report last month that detailed reported attacks from May until August. It said that the frequency of settler attacks was notably high in Hebron and the southern region of the West Bank. Attacks sharply increased during the Palestinian olive harvest season last month. “Reports of violence and vandalism [against Palestinians and their lands] have been reported every day," the AIC said. In one instance, settlers destroyed 120 olive trees on which several Palestinian families from a village south of Nablus relied for their income. It added that in most cases settlers were armed. Last week, settlers again uprooted 100 trees in a Nablus village and spray painted “Death to Arabs" and “Price Tag" throughout the village, Ma'an News Agency reports. On Sunday night, settlers raided al-Manshiya, a village near Bethlehem, and attempted to burn down a Palestinian home. After pouring gasoline on the house, the settlers fled when villagers came to defend the home by throwing rocks and forced them from the village. Over 500,000 Jewish settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The international community considers all settlements illegal.
