BETHLEHEM, October 15, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers Thursday resumed their attacks against Palestinians, stoning Palestinian cars to the south of Bethlehem with stones, according to security sources.
Sources informed WAFA that a group of settlers – protected by Israeli army soldiers - gathered near the Israeli settlement of Ifrat, built illegally on Palestinian-owned land – and proceeded to hurl stones at passing Palestinian registered cars. However, no injuries were reported.
Israeli settlers reportedly blocked the Jerusalem-Hebron main road, hindering Palestinians’ traffic movement, which forced locals to take alternative ways to reach their destinations.
Settlers have stepped up their violent attacks against Palestinians and their properties, following the killing of four Israelis at the hands of alleged Palestinian suspects.
Clashes have been witnessed across the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and Gaza, as well as in Arab communities inside the occupied 1948 land, against the backdrop of Israel’s repeated assaults against al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem. Israel has been enforcing a temporal division on the compound, the third holiest place in Islam, which ignited strong feelings of anger among Palestinians.
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
