QALQILIYA, Monday, March 18, 2019 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers set up several mobile homes in the southeastern part of the northern West Bank town of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalailiya.
Sources from the Anti-Wall and Settlement Committee’s Office in the Northern West Bank confirmed that settlers, under heavy military protection, set up several mobile homes or caravans near Kedumim settlement.
This came as settlers stepped up their attacks against Palestinians in the northern West Bank in retaliation for the killing of two Israelis, including a soldier, and injuring another in a stabbing and shooting attack outside the settlement of Ariel on Sunday.
On Sunday evening, settlers hurled rocks at Palestinian vehicles travelling along Nablus-Qalqiliya and Nablus-Tulkarem Roads, causing damages.
They also attacked a Palestinian house with stones in Huwwara town, south of Nablus, shattering its windows. No injuries were reported though in any of the attacks.
Israel imposes harsh penalties on Palestinian stone throwers, as it passed a legislation in 2015 allowing for up to 20 years in prison if charged with throwing stones at Israeli vehicles and a minimum of three years for the act of throwing a stone at an Israeli. In contrast, Israeli settlers are rarely prosecuted under the same standards of the law.
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.
K.F.
