Illegal Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian olive trees, property in West Bank village

By Ayser Al-Ais

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Illegal Israeli settlers burned olive trees and Palestinian property in Yatma, a village south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, on Thursday evening.

“A group of illegal settlers from the Rehelim settlement near Yatma set fire to olive trees, a vehicle, and a scrap yard in the village after they immediately withdrew,” Ahmed Sanobar, head of the Yatma village council, told Anadolu.

He added that the settlers' attack caused a fire that damaged several olive trees and a vehicle, but locals and firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze.

According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal Israeli settlers have killed 19 Palestinians, injured over 785 others, and displaced 28 Bedouin communities since Oct. 7 of last year.

Israeli estimates suggest that over 720,000 illegal settlers live in settlements across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Tensions have intensified throughout the occupied West Bank as Israel persists in its offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 41,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since last Oct. 7.

Over 700 individuals have been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank since that time, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion in July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul