Illegal Jewish settlers caused damages to Palestinian agricultural crops on Sunday, in the town of Yatta, south of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil), the official news agency WAFA reported.
Rateb al-Jabour, from the Settlement and Wall Resistance Popular Committee, told WAFA that the Jewish settlers grazed their livestock in fields belonging to Palestinian farmers in the area of Masafer Yatta. This caused damage to agricultural crops including wheat, barley, alfalfa, and crocuses, belonging to the al-Zuwaidin family.
Al-Jabour added that a fight took place between unarmed Palestinian landowners and armed settlers, but the Israeli army came and provided protection for the illegal Jewish settlers.
Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.
Israeli settlers attack a Palestinian family with toxic gas in Massafer Yatta in Palestine.
Happened today. pic.twitter.com/G7ph4dcuPl
— Muhammad Smiry 🇵🇸 (@MuhammadSmiry) August 7, 2021
“Jewish settler violence should not be analyzed separately from the violence meted out by the Israeli army, but seen within the larger context of the violent Zionist ideology that governs Israeli society entirely,” wrote Palestinian author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud.
“Settler violence has long since become part of Palestinians’ daily life under occupation,” according to the Human Rights Group B’tselem. “Israeli security forces enable these actions, which result in Palestinian casualties – injuries and fatalities – as well as damage to land and property. In some cases, they even serve as an armed escort, or even join in the attacks”.
(PC, WAFA)
