BETHLEHEM, Hardcore Israeli settlers today uprooted scores of olive saplings for Palestinian owners after sneaking into a private land in the village of Al-Masara, to the south of Bethlehem in the south of the occupied West Bank, according to witnesses.

Mohammad Burajiya, a local Palestinian activist, told WAFA that a group of Israeli settlers sneaked into his own farm, located at the south entrance to the village, and uprooted about 70 olive saplings which he had recently planted.

Burajiya pointed out to an increase in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and their public and private property in the area, with Israeli occupation forces turning a blind eye to most of these attacks.

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

There are over 650,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law and consensus.

Source: Palestine News Agency