Israeli Settlers Attack and Burn Agricultural Lands of Four Villages South of Nablus

Israeli Settlers Attack and burn agricultural lands of four Villages south of Nablus
June 20, 2008
"Israeli settlers burn tens of dunams of agricultural land, properties and cars belonging to the residents of four Palestinian Villages south of Nablus. Eyewitnesses declared that Armed Israeli settlers who came from the Israeli Settlement of Yetzhar/Itshar attacked the Palestinian citizens.
The report is in Arabic from the Al-Jazeera Arabic Channel.
The first person interviewed by the reporter declared that the Israeli Army refused to allow the villagers to their lands and held them for four full hours, preventing them from putting out the fire. The second person interviewed declared that the Israeli soldiers only allowed the villagers to put out the fire on their lands when the Al-Jazeera cameras arrived on the scene."
-Thx Eyad!

News Item from PNN
Official report: Israeli military watched settlers set blaze to Palestinian lands

Nablus / Amin Abu Wardeh - Black spots of scorched earth cover vast areas of southern Nablus. The towns of Asira and Burin were the most affected when Israeli settlers burned Palestinian farmers’ fields and hundreds of trees.

The settlers retreated to the Itshar Settlement after the arson. Israeli soldiers looked on and prevented fire-fighters from reaching the scene.

This occurred on Thursday, but what has been confirmed on Saturday by official Palestinian sources is that the Israeli military had full knowledge of the act as it was happening.

“The fires burned under the site and within ear shot of occupation soldiers,” one source told PNN. Eyewitness testimony includes, “they didn’t lift a finger to stop them.”

The Israeli military also did not allow Palestinian fire fighters to reach the scene for several hours, adding to the destruction. When they finally did manage to begin working, it took six hours to put out the blaze.

This is not the first time that Israeli settlers have started fire to Palestinian lands and property in the northern West Bank towns.

Resident Abu Zahar said that Israeli settlers conduct “surprise attacks in broad daylight, in front of the world, even in front of news cameras at times.”

A journalist living in the area filmed the black cloud covering the skyline “strangulating the region,” near the Itshar Settlement.

Nablus Governor, Dr. Jamal Al Muhaisin, along with the General Director of Public Affairs, visited the site in the villages of Burin and Asira after this latest settler attack.