JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli settlers on Wednesday vandalized Palestinian vehicles in a suspected “price tag” attack in the occupied West Bank, according to local residents.
Settlers slashed the tyres of at least ten vehicles in the town of Battir near Bethlehem, residents said.
Attackers also sprayed racist slogans as “Death to the Arabs” on the walls of several homes in the area.
On Sunday, settlers cut off several roads in the West Bank following the death of two Israelis in a shooting attack in the occupied territory.
“Price tag ” vandalism is a strategy used by extremist Jewish settlers to attack Palestinians and their property in retaliation for perceived threats to Israeli settlement expansion.
According to Palestinian figures, more than 700,000 Jewish settlers now live on 196 settlements (built with the Israeli government’s approval) and more than 200 settler outposts (built without its approval) across the occupied West Bank.
International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “occupied territories ” and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity on the land to be illegal.
The Palestinians want both these territories — along with the Gaza Strip — for an independent state of Palestine.
