BETHLEHEM, April 25, 2017 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers Tuesday set fire to around 100 olive trees belonging to Palestinians in Beit Ta’mar area to the east of Bethlehem city, in the southern West Bank, according to a local activist.

‏Hassan Brijiyeh, member of the local anti-settlements committee, told WAFA settlers residing in illegal settlements under international law set fire to around 100 olive trees located near another illegal Israeli settlement outpost.

The five-dunum planted plot of land belongs to Mubarak and Mohammad Zawahreh.

All settlements across the West Bank are illegal under international law, particularly article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which establishes that the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

According to the Israeli rights group B’Tselem, “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,” stressed the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B’Tselem.

T.R./M.K.