BETHLEHEM, July 23, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers Saturday physically assaulted a number of Palestinian farmers in the town of al-Khader to the south of Bethlehem, according to a local activist.
Coordinator of anti settlement and wall resistance committee in al-Khader, Ahmad Salah, told WAFA a group of settlers beat up three farmers from Ghnaim family while they were tending to their land, which is situated adjacent to the Israeli settlement of yazer, built illegally on Palestinian-owned land.
Settlers further used live fire against the farmers to scare them off and force them out of their land.
The activist noted that this settlers’ attack comes in an aim to force the Palestinian locals to leave to their rightful land for the benefit of settlement expansion.
According to B’Tselem, the Israeli information and human rights center, “As the occupying force, Israel must protect the Palestinians in the West Bank. However, the Israeli authorities neglect to fulfill this responsibility and do not do enough to prevent Israeli civilians from attacking Palestinians, their property and their lands.”
“The undeclared policy of the Israeli authorities in response to these attacks is lenient and conciliatory. Perpetrators are rarely tried, and many cases are not investigated at all or are closed with no operative conclusions,” said the center.
It noted that, “Security forces do not always deploy in advance to protect Palestinians from settler violence, even when such violence could be anticipated.”
“In some cases, rather than restricting violent settlers, Israeli security forces impose restrictions on the Palestinians.”
As the occupying power in the West Bank, Israel is obligated to maintain public order and ensure the safety of the Palestinians in the West Bank, who are classified a protected population in international law, stressed the center.
In a ruling regarding the ability of the security forces to enable the olive harvest to be carried out undisturbed, the Supreme Court ruled that, "protecting the security and property of the local residents is one of the most basic obligations placed upon the military commander in the field."
The judges added that the defense establishment must "give clear, unequivocal instructions to the forces that are deployed in the field" and must also "allocate forces to protect the property of the Palestinian residents."
T.R.
