HEBRON, August 6, 2010 (WAFA)- Palestinians from At-Tuwani in South Hebron Hills found Wednesday that the fence built between the village and the wood bounding Havat Ma'on Jewish outpost had been partially destroyed during the night, Operation Dove reported in a press release.

The wire netting, funded by ECHO (European Commission for Humanitarian Aid), UAWC (Union of Agricultural Work Committee) and Save the Children UK, was erected on last March with the aim of protecting the crop by defining the borders of the agricultural land belonging to Palestinians and in response to the ongoing and rapid expansion of the nearby Ma'on settlement and Havat Ma'on outpost and, consequently, with the effect to protect the village from Jewish settlers raids.

On Thursday morning, Palestinian villagers found 17 poles supporting the fence pulled up on the path running along the Palestinian properties illegally occupied by Havat Ma'on outpost and about 100m of net cut in pieces. They suspect that the perpetrators of this action are the Israeli settlers from the outpost. During this year the same fence had already been damaged on May 11th (see press release: snipurl.com/xmb2w). On that occasion, the owner of the land filed a complaint to the Israeli police but he never received any update concerning the progress of investigation.

This property damage is just the last of several ongoing provocations carried out by the Israeli army and Israeli settlers which South Hebron Hills Palestinian communities have undertaken to respond to with nonviolent struggle.