Hardcore Israeli settlers today chopped off and vandalized scores of olive trees for Palestinian farmers in the village of Al-Jab’a, near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Mayor of Al-Jab’a, Diab Mashaaleh, told WAFA that a group of settlers sneaked their way into a ranch near the village, where they uprooted scores of centuries-old olive trees belonging to a local Palestinian villager, who was identified as Refaat al-Tous.

He said the owner was not able to access his own farm since the Israeli occupation forces only allow him entry there twice a year during plowing and harvest times.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities, as the Palestinian Authority has no jurisdiction over Israeli settlers under signed agreements.

Over 700,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency