Israeli settlers attack Palestinian homes in occupied West Bank

By Cagri Kosak

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes Friday in the town of Surif, near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, causing financial damage.

Surif Mayor Iyad Hamidad told Anadolu Agency that Jewish settlers attacked houses in northern Hebron by hurling stones and opening fire.

Hamidad said there were no casualties.

He also said Jewish settlers burned a hut used for agriculture and attacked farmers harvesting olives in Halhul.

- 45 olive trees cut down

An official in charge of the settlement file in the northern West Bank affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) said in a statement that 45 olive trees were cut down in the Burin town of Nablus and there was Yitzhar settlement near the area where the incident took place.

Ghassan Daghlas noted Jewish settlers stole the olive harvest in Kafr Qaddum in Qalqilya province.

- Attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians

Jewish settlers in occupied Palestinian territories frequently cut down or set fire to olive trees, the main source of income for Palestinian farmers in the West Bank.

Settlers attack farmers, especially during the olive harvest season.

There are more than 250 illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967.

Nearly 450,000 settlers living in those areas make life more difficult for Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank.

According to international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan