Jewish settlers cut off electricity poles in the village of Al-Sawiya in the northern occupied West Bank, Maan News Agency reported.

The Palestinian official in charge of the settlement file in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Douglas, confirmed that the settlers from the Jewish-only illegal settlement of Rahalim were responsible for chopping down a number of wooden electric poles with chainsaws, causing power outages in the area near Nablus.

“A number of settlers from the settlement of Rahalim near the village cut off electricity poles with electric saws and destroyed the water network for citizens in the western region of the village of Al-Sawiyah, which led to the disruption of main services for hundreds of Palestinian citizens in the area,” Douglas said.

#Israeli settlers sneak into the #Palestinian village of As-Sawiya, cut down its electricity poles with chainsaws & destroy part of the water network.https://t.co/SbY4ADlgwT @MEeye18 pic.twitter.com/uoqzJ6PzEt

— ME_EYE (@MEeye18) October 30, 2020

He pointed out that “the settlers’ operations and attacks are on a major and continuous escalation, especially in the northern West Bank, since the start of the olive harvest season.”

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

#Palestinians Don’t Need a ‘Victim Status’ They Have a Right to an #AntiColonial #Struggle https://t.co/pZDpJZ4rdR via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/DwrTe7GCWS

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 29, 2020

“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”.

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.

(Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Social Media)