Palestinian gov’t denounces increase in attacks by Israeli settlers

The Palestinian government condemned the systematic attacks carried out by armed Israeli settlers against the civilian population of the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a statement denouncing calls made by settlement associations to Tel Aviv requesting more lethal weapons.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that the phenomenon of the armed militias and the protection of the Army has spread throughout the occupied areas.

The statement stressed that the settler attacks are part of a strategy by the Israeli authorities to intimidate and oppress Palestinians and facilitate the theft of the land.

Earlier this year, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem) claimed that settler violence against Palestinians is yet another method Tel Aviv uses to control the West Bank.

B’Tselem noted that they carry out a variety of acts including physical assaults, stone throwing, threats and harassment, damaging trees and crops, vandalizing cars, blocking roads and even firing live ammunition.

The Israeli authorities, including the security forces and the law enforcement system, are fully aware of this, but allow and support the violence and then enjoy the result, it stated.

According to various sources, some 490 thousand settlers live on the West Bank and another 200 thousand in East Jerusalem.