31 March 2014
Source: Middle East Monitor
Israeli settlers set fire to agricultural land in the village of
Qaryout south of Nablus in the north of the West Bank before dawn today.
An activist with the Popular Resistance, Bashar Qaryouti, told the Anadolu Agency
that a number of settlers from the Israeli settlement of Eli, located
near the Palestinian village of Qaryout, sneaked on to that territory
after midnight and set fire to 11 perennial olive trees.
"We called on the citizens through the mosques' speaker system to
rise up to defend their land. Then we headed for the western area of the
village which witnessed the attack. The fire had destroyed 11 trees,
while flammable materials were being sprayed at the rest of the trees.
Because of our prompt arrival the burning was prevented and the settlers
withdrew toward the settlement of Eli," Qaryouti said.
The activist pointed out that the settlers were guarded by the
Israeli army who fired lighting bombs over the targeted land before the
settlers began to set fire to the land. The Israeli army also prevented
Palestinian Civil Defence personnel from entering the area and
extinguishing the fire.
"We tried to extinguish the fire through primitive tools in addition
to sand, but we could not, so the burnt trees fell to the ground after
the fire had destroyed them completely," he added.
He explained that the village of Qaryout is increasingly experiencing
daily attacks against citizens and land, the most recent of which was
the decision of the Israeli authorities to confiscate thousands of acres
of agricultural land in order to link the two Israeli settlements of
Eli and Shiloh to each other and establish tourist resorts for settlers.
"Qaryout is witnessing fierce attacks aimed at confiscating its
entire land for the sake of settlement expansion. The occupation forces
have closed the main street in the southern area of the village and
prevent the citizens from crossing it. They confiscated all the
agricultural land surrounding it," Qaryouti said.
It was not possible to get immediate comment from the Israeli army.
Link: www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/10625-israeli-settlers-burn-olive-trees-in-west-bank.
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