JENIN, July 29, 2015 (WAFA) – Dozens of extremist settlers gathering near the illegal evicted Israeli settlement outpost of Tarsala to the south of Jenin, have been rioting and committing acts of violence against Palestinians for the past few days, said security sources.
They told WAFA that dozens of settlers, protected by the Israeli army, have been targeting Palestinians passing through the Jenin-Nablus road for the past few days.
Settlers carried the Israel flag and used vulgar and racist anti-Arab words against Palestinians. Settlers further conducted Talmudic rituals in the area and set up tents inside the evicted settlement in a clear attempt to rebuild it.
According to media sources, Tarsala is one of four sites evicted by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2005.
Al-Haq human rights center said, “Attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank against members of the Palestinian population and their property are an extensive, long-term, and worsening phenomenon.”
In 2013, a report issued by the United Nations International Fact-Finding Mission on Settlements highlighted the failure of the Israeli authorities to enforce the law by investigating such incidents and taking measures against their perpetrators.
“The Fact-Finding Mission came to the 'clear conclusion that there is institutionalized discrimination against the Palestinian people when it comes to addressing violence,' said the center.
It added that, “Acts of settler violence are intended, organized, and publicly represented to influence the political decisions of Israeli State authorities,” adding that, “For settlers, some acts of violence facilitate the transfer of Palestinians off their land to make way for the construction of settlements, in the expectation that the Israeli authorities will eventually formally recognize the settlement's establishment or expansion.”
It said that, “Other acts of settler violence are intended to exert a toll on the Israeli government for any measure that negatively affects settler interests, as a form of retaliation against restrictions on settlement construction or evacuations of settlements.”
A report published by the Israeli human rights organization of Yesh Din stated that Israeli settlers enjoy widespread impunity for their attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
According to international humanitarian law, as the occupying power in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Israel is charged with ensuring the security and safety of the residents of the OPT. However, Israel has neglected this obligation for decades.
Acts of violence are being committed by Israeli civilians against Palestinians in the West Bank on a daily basis, manifesting in many forms of attacks against people and destruction of their property.
Seven Israeli settler attacks resulting in Palestinian injuries or property damage were recorded by OCHA in a report covering the period 30 June - 6 July 2015.
There are around 341 thousand settlers and 100 settlement outposts in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in area C, under full Israeli control and which constitutes about 60 percent of West Bank land, according to UN statistics.
Settlements are illegal under international law as they violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the transfer of the occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory.
T.R/M.H
