13 mar 2011
Israeli troops attack Palestinian worshipers at Aqsa Mosque
Violent clashes broke out Sunday morning at the Aqsa Mosque between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli troops who desecrated the Mosque along with Jewish settlers.
Palestinian eyewitnesses said the suspicious and blasphemous moves made by the settlers in the Mosque`s courtyards prompted the Palestinian worshipers to glorify the name of God, but all of a sudden the Israeli troops attacked them violently injuring one of them and detaining three others.
They added that the Israeli occupation forces intensified their presence at the Aqsa Mosque following the clashes.
In a related context, an Israeli court banned a Palestinian young man from Umm Al-Fahm city in the 1948 occupied lands called Mohamed Jabareen from entering the Aqsa Mosque for one month on a charge of glorifying the name of God inside the Mosque.
Car set ablaze, child injured in settler attacks rocking Al-Khalil
Jewish settlers instilled terror during several riots in the southern West Bank city of Al-Khalil on Saturday night.
They set fire to a Palestinian man's car and inflicted injuries on a child and caused other damages.
Settlers made repeated attacks on several Palestinian homes near the Ramat Yishai settlement in the Tel Rumeida area, breaking the windows of homes and setting fire to a parked car, witnesses reported, adding that present Israeli soldiers did nothing to curb the violence.
More attacks took place near the Kiryat Arba and Kharsina settlements to the east of the city.
Women settlers also staged a small protest on the streets of Al-Khalil shouting demands for death to Arabs and Palestinians.
According to locals in Beit Ummar, near Al-Khalil, more than 250 settlers attacked near town limits and threw stones at Palestinian homes. The Israeli army protected them and fired tear gas causing a small child to sustain breathing difficulties after inhaling it.
He was later taken to the city hospital for treatment.
More settlers attacked homes in the Al-Aroub refugee camp on the main road linking the cities of Al-Khalil and Bethlehem.
Israeli troops attack Palestinian worshipers at Aqsa Mosque
Violent clashes broke out Sunday morning at the Aqsa Mosque between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli troops who desecrated the Mosque along with Jewish settlers.
Palestinian eyewitnesses said the suspicious and blasphemous moves made by the settlers in the Mosque`s courtyards prompted the Palestinian worshipers to glorify the name of God, but all of a sudden the Israeli troops attacked them violently injuring one of them and detaining three others.
They added that the Israeli occupation forces intensified their presence at the Aqsa Mosque following the clashes.
In a related context, an Israeli court banned a Palestinian young man from Umm Al-Fahm city in the 1948 occupied lands called Mohamed Jabareen from entering the Aqsa Mosque for one month on a charge of glorifying the name of God inside the Mosque.
Car set ablaze, child injured in settler attacks rocking Al-Khalil
Jewish settlers instilled terror during several riots in the southern West Bank city of Al-Khalil on Saturday night.
They set fire to a Palestinian man's car and inflicted injuries on a child and caused other damages.
Settlers made repeated attacks on several Palestinian homes near the Ramat Yishai settlement in the Tel Rumeida area, breaking the windows of homes and setting fire to a parked car, witnesses reported, adding that present Israeli soldiers did nothing to curb the violence.
More attacks took place near the Kiryat Arba and Kharsina settlements to the east of the city.
Women settlers also staged a small protest on the streets of Al-Khalil shouting demands for death to Arabs and Palestinians.
According to locals in Beit Ummar, near Al-Khalil, more than 250 settlers attacked near town limits and threw stones at Palestinian homes. The Israeli army protected them and fired tear gas causing a small child to sustain breathing difficulties after inhaling it.
He was later taken to the city hospital for treatment.
More settlers attacked homes in the Al-Aroub refugee camp on the main road linking the cities of Al-Khalil and Bethlehem.
10 mar 2011

An Israeli court issued a decision last week allowing Israeli settlers to take part of a Palestinian family home in the Rad Al-Amoud neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
The court decision came after an 11-year battle between the Hamdella family and American-Israeli billionaire Irving Moskowitz, who purchased the property in 1990 from a Jewish group claiming to own the land.
The Hamdella's have lived in the home since 1952. An earlier decision from the court ordered that they evacuate buildings on the property built in 1989, including a shed and a storehouse. The order included a room in the front of the house, which the family said had not been built at the same time.
On Monday, settlers will move into the evacuated rooms and buildings, member of the Fatah revolutionary council Dimitry Delyani said.
He explained that the court decision gave Moskowitz rights to part of the home, adding "the courts would never treat a West Jerusalem family in this way."
"The home will be turned into an outpost, the settlers will bring in armed guards in order to make life for the Hamdellas unbearable," he said.
Settler Group Threatens European, American Diplomats in Ramallah
European and American diplomats in Ramallah told the London-based al-Hayat newspaper that a group of settlers handed them letters last Thursday threatening them over their position on settlements as crossed a military checkpoint into the city.
The letter, obtained by al-Hayat, reads as follows:
Dear diplomats, You are guests in our land. You are standing on the sacred land of the Jewish nation. Do not interfere with [settlement] building on our land. Interference from the American government and the European Union puts your presence here at risk. Go back to your countries and face the facts. We will not make peace with Palestinian terrorists. The letter concluded, President Barack Hussein Obama, and friends like you, need enemies.
The diplomats, who refused to be named, told al-Hayat, The settlers handed threatening letters to all the diplomats coming from Jerusalem to their offices in Ramallah as they stood in line at the military checkpoint east of the city, near the Bethel settlement. The hand-over took place in direct view of Israeli soldiers, according to the diplomats.
The diplomats said they were worried for their lives on account of the threats. One of them told al-Hayat, I`ve worked here for years and I was working here during the Intifada years. This is the first time I have been threatened. I will be more cautious moving between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Other diplomats said they would avoid daily travel in the area in question.
Many Western diplomats work in Ramallah but live with their families in Jerusalem, which forces them to make daily trips between the two cities on roads used by settlers.
The diplomats said the settlers singled out their car by its diplomatic plates and one of them, a youth with a kippot and ringlets, handed them the letter.
Settler attacks have been on the rise in recent days since settlers announced a day of rage last week to protest the Israeli army`s dismantling of an illegal outpost named Havat Gilad, near Nablus. In the village of Qasra, also near Nablus, settlers opened fire on farmers, injuring nine.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad visited the injured farmers in Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus and told reporters afterward that the Israeli government had to take full responsibility for the terrorist attacks. He described the settlers as terrorists and scoundrels.
The international community must realize the address of the settlers, that is, that the government of Israel bears full responsibility for what they have done to our people in Qasra, said Fayyad. [They must note] that what happened against our people was not just the terrorism of settlers, but that occupation soldiers participated, too.
The court decision came after an 11-year battle between the Hamdella family and American-Israeli billionaire Irving Moskowitz, who purchased the property in 1990 from a Jewish group claiming to own the land.
The Hamdella's have lived in the home since 1952. An earlier decision from the court ordered that they evacuate buildings on the property built in 1989, including a shed and a storehouse. The order included a room in the front of the house, which the family said had not been built at the same time.
On Monday, settlers will move into the evacuated rooms and buildings, member of the Fatah revolutionary council Dimitry Delyani said.
He explained that the court decision gave Moskowitz rights to part of the home, adding "the courts would never treat a West Jerusalem family in this way."
"The home will be turned into an outpost, the settlers will bring in armed guards in order to make life for the Hamdellas unbearable," he said.
Settler Group Threatens European, American Diplomats in Ramallah
European and American diplomats in Ramallah told the London-based al-Hayat newspaper that a group of settlers handed them letters last Thursday threatening them over their position on settlements as crossed a military checkpoint into the city.
The letter, obtained by al-Hayat, reads as follows:
Dear diplomats, You are guests in our land. You are standing on the sacred land of the Jewish nation. Do not interfere with [settlement] building on our land. Interference from the American government and the European Union puts your presence here at risk. Go back to your countries and face the facts. We will not make peace with Palestinian terrorists. The letter concluded, President Barack Hussein Obama, and friends like you, need enemies.
The diplomats, who refused to be named, told al-Hayat, The settlers handed threatening letters to all the diplomats coming from Jerusalem to their offices in Ramallah as they stood in line at the military checkpoint east of the city, near the Bethel settlement. The hand-over took place in direct view of Israeli soldiers, according to the diplomats.
The diplomats said they were worried for their lives on account of the threats. One of them told al-Hayat, I`ve worked here for years and I was working here during the Intifada years. This is the first time I have been threatened. I will be more cautious moving between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Other diplomats said they would avoid daily travel in the area in question.
Many Western diplomats work in Ramallah but live with their families in Jerusalem, which forces them to make daily trips between the two cities on roads used by settlers.
The diplomats said the settlers singled out their car by its diplomatic plates and one of them, a youth with a kippot and ringlets, handed them the letter.
Settler attacks have been on the rise in recent days since settlers announced a day of rage last week to protest the Israeli army`s dismantling of an illegal outpost named Havat Gilad, near Nablus. In the village of Qasra, also near Nablus, settlers opened fire on farmers, injuring nine.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad visited the injured farmers in Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus and told reporters afterward that the Israeli government had to take full responsibility for the terrorist attacks. He described the settlers as terrorists and scoundrels.
The international community must realize the address of the settlers, that is, that the government of Israel bears full responsibility for what they have done to our people in Qasra, said Fayyad. [They must note] that what happened against our people was not just the terrorism of settlers, but that occupation soldiers participated, too.
9 mar 2011

Vilnai. Defended government
Minister answers complaint by MK Orbach, who says drill in which soldiers kill settler threatening them with knife is politically motivated. 'Knives have been pulled out before, we must prepare troops,' he says.
Minister Matan Vilnai gave the government's comment on an IDF drill simulating clashes with West Bank settlers.
"Soldiers are trained to fire at those firing at them," he said. "Knives have been pulled out before, and not just once or twice, to be used on car tires. I am not sure it will not go further then tires."
Vilnai was answering a question put to the government by MK Uri Orbach (Habayit Hayehudi), who complained about a drill in which reserve soldiers had to defend themselves against a settler holding a knife to their throats by shooting him to death.
The Knesset was in an uproar over the query, during which Orbach intimated that the drill constituted incitement against the settlers.
Minister answers complaint by MK Orbach, who says drill in which soldiers kill settler threatening them with knife is politically motivated. 'Knives have been pulled out before, we must prepare troops,' he says.
Minister Matan Vilnai gave the government's comment on an IDF drill simulating clashes with West Bank settlers.
"Soldiers are trained to fire at those firing at them," he said. "Knives have been pulled out before, and not just once or twice, to be used on car tires. I am not sure it will not go further then tires."
Vilnai was answering a question put to the government by MK Uri Orbach (Habayit Hayehudi), who complained about a drill in which reserve soldiers had to defend themselves against a settler holding a knife to their throats by shooting him to death.
The Knesset was in an uproar over the query, during which Orbach intimated that the drill constituted incitement against the settlers.

MK Orbach: No drill for leftists
"There was no scenario of a gang of leftists pulling out knives or firing at soldiers in Bil'in. There was only a settler with a knife. This makes a political statement," the MK explained.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin added that "what is being said here, Mr. Minister, is that scenarios have an effect on public trends of thought".
MK Arieh Eldad (National Union) also intervened in support of the settlers. "Do you know of any past case in which a settler threatened a soldier with a knife or weapon? Must we drill every type of imaginary scenario?" he asked.
But MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) took the government's side. "We shouldn't play innocent. Rabbi Dov Wolpo suggested recently that his supporters fire at soldiers. This is not a scenario, it is a terrible deterioration," he said.
Vilnai stood his ground. "I was trained to, whenever someone threatens me with a weapon, do everything in my power to escape. I have been threatened eight or nine times, and the fact is that I am standing here while those who threatened me are not," he said.
"The IDF trains for scenarios that may happen. It is our duty to prepare soldiers for complex, non-routine situations." Vilnai added that he found nothing political or ideological about the drill.
"There was no scenario of a gang of leftists pulling out knives or firing at soldiers in Bil'in. There was only a settler with a knife. This makes a political statement," the MK explained.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin added that "what is being said here, Mr. Minister, is that scenarios have an effect on public trends of thought".
MK Arieh Eldad (National Union) also intervened in support of the settlers. "Do you know of any past case in which a settler threatened a soldier with a knife or weapon? Must we drill every type of imaginary scenario?" he asked.
But MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) took the government's side. "We shouldn't play innocent. Rabbi Dov Wolpo suggested recently that his supporters fire at soldiers. This is not a scenario, it is a terrible deterioration," he said.
Vilnai stood his ground. "I was trained to, whenever someone threatens me with a weapon, do everything in my power to escape. I have been threatened eight or nine times, and the fact is that I am standing here while those who threatened me are not," he said.
"The IDF trains for scenarios that may happen. It is our duty to prepare soldiers for complex, non-routine situations." Vilnai added that he found nothing political or ideological about the drill.
8 mar 2011

A group of armed Jewish settlers attacked the village of Qasra, south of Nablus, on Monday evening and assaulted citizens in the village and its vicinity.
Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that tens of armed settlers attacked a group of citizens and tried to forcibly evict them from their land.
They added that other villagers came to the rescue only to be met by intensified firing on the part of the settlers.
Medical sources in Nablus said that nine villagers were wounded in the shooting, three of them seriously.
Child among villagers injured by settlers
Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that tens of armed settlers attacked a group of citizens and tried to forcibly evict them from their land.
They added that other villagers came to the rescue only to be met by intensified firing on the part of the settlers.
Medical sources in Nablus said that nine villagers were wounded in the shooting, three of them seriously.
Child among villagers injured by settlers

Activists with the International Solidarity Movement in the village of Qusra said that evening clashes with settlers Monday night had left 13 injured, including a child.
The group identified Ibrahim Hassan, 15, as the youngest victim, who doctors said sustained a bullet wound with an entry point at his back and exit through the kidney, which he would likely lose.
Hassan was shot by setters who villagers said were uprooting olive trees on local lands. Witnesses reported seeing villagers throw stones at the settlers in an attempt to frighten them off, but instead sparked the use of gunfire.
"A settler brought out his M-16 and started shooting at us," said local witness Raed Awdeh.
A second victim interviewed by the activist group, 25-year-old Qaher Oude, sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg, and bruises to his upper body, which he said were sustained when settlers beat him with sticks and stones.
He told the group that settlers used a large rock to crush his right leg.
"I had heard that people were injured, so I went there to help them and suddenly I got shot, the settlers came from nowhere," he told the activists.
Testimony gathered by ISM showed that the attack took place in waves, starting with four farmers who were injured by stones at 4:30 p.m. who called to relatives for help.
Witnesses told the activist group that by the time they arrived to assist, there were 50 settlers standing near the injured farmers all in view of the Israeli military.
"Some of the injured people reported they had been shot and beaten by soldiers and some by settlers," the report from the group said.
Settlers to diplomats: Go home!
The group identified Ibrahim Hassan, 15, as the youngest victim, who doctors said sustained a bullet wound with an entry point at his back and exit through the kidney, which he would likely lose.
Hassan was shot by setters who villagers said were uprooting olive trees on local lands. Witnesses reported seeing villagers throw stones at the settlers in an attempt to frighten them off, but instead sparked the use of gunfire.
"A settler brought out his M-16 and started shooting at us," said local witness Raed Awdeh.
A second victim interviewed by the activist group, 25-year-old Qaher Oude, sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg, and bruises to his upper body, which he said were sustained when settlers beat him with sticks and stones.
He told the group that settlers used a large rock to crush his right leg.
"I had heard that people were injured, so I went there to help them and suddenly I got shot, the settlers came from nowhere," he told the activists.
Testimony gathered by ISM showed that the attack took place in waves, starting with four farmers who were injured by stones at 4:30 p.m. who called to relatives for help.
Witnesses told the activist group that by the time they arrived to assist, there were 50 settlers standing near the injured farmers all in view of the Israeli military.
"Some of the injured people reported they had been shot and beaten by soldiers and some by settlers," the report from the group said.
Settlers to diplomats: Go home!

Israeli soldiers allowed a settler youth group to pass out pamphlets to diplomatic officials Thursday, which instructed the international representatives to "go home," and advised them to stay out of Israeli affairs.
A concerned diplomatic source in Jerusalem passed on a copy of the pamphlet being handed out.
Young Israelis, described as being part of a "settler youth group," were passing out leaflets as Israeli soldiers manning the DCO checkpoint in Ramallah stopped vehicles for document checks.
The source said several diplomatic cars were given the pamphlet. It read:
DEAR DIPLOMATS
You are guests in our country!
You are standing on the
Holy Land!Of the Jewish Nation!
Do not interfere with the
Building of our country:
The meddling by the American
Government
and
By the European Union, is putting
Your stay at risk!
Go Home! Face the facts!
We never will make peace
With Palestinian terrorists!
A concerned diplomatic source in Jerusalem passed on a copy of the pamphlet being handed out.
Young Israelis, described as being part of a "settler youth group," were passing out leaflets as Israeli soldiers manning the DCO checkpoint in Ramallah stopped vehicles for document checks.
The source said several diplomatic cars were given the pamphlet. It read:
DEAR DIPLOMATS
You are guests in our country!
You are standing on the
Holy Land!Of the Jewish Nation!
Do not interfere with the
Building of our country:
The meddling by the American
Government
and
By the European Union, is putting
Your stay at risk!
Go Home! Face the facts!
We never will make peace
With Palestinian terrorists!

The other side of the page read: President Barack Hussein Obama -- With friends like you who needs enemies!!!
The tactic appeared to be one of several actions marking a settler "day of rage," which reports said was organized by extremist groups to intimidate Israeli forces in the wake of an evacuation of an illegal settler outpost in Nablus earlier in the week.
In Israel on Thursday, settler groups and their supporters set fire to tires on the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, and blocked the country's train tracks for a brief period.
One Jerusalem diplomat, however, was concerned at the apparent cooperation between the settler groups handing out the threatening messages and the soldiers who allowed them to remain at the checkpoint.
Israeli cabinet approves limited outpost evacuations
Following the dismantling of the Hivat Gilad settler outpost, which sparked the "day of rage," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a decision to the courts saying the government would dismantle all settler outposts built on occupied West Bank lands that the state recognizes as privately owned by Palestinians.
Reports say there are six such outposts, out of a list of 100 according to monitoring group Peace Now.
The decision was confirmed Monday by the Israeli cabinet, at the same time as a decision to begin legalizing illegal outposts built on what Israel considers "state land" in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the government would consider further debate on other illegal settlement outposts at a later date.
The tactic appeared to be one of several actions marking a settler "day of rage," which reports said was organized by extremist groups to intimidate Israeli forces in the wake of an evacuation of an illegal settler outpost in Nablus earlier in the week.
In Israel on Thursday, settler groups and their supporters set fire to tires on the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, and blocked the country's train tracks for a brief period.
One Jerusalem diplomat, however, was concerned at the apparent cooperation between the settler groups handing out the threatening messages and the soldiers who allowed them to remain at the checkpoint.
Israeli cabinet approves limited outpost evacuations
Following the dismantling of the Hivat Gilad settler outpost, which sparked the "day of rage," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a decision to the courts saying the government would dismantle all settler outposts built on occupied West Bank lands that the state recognizes as privately owned by Palestinians.
Reports say there are six such outposts, out of a list of 100 according to monitoring group Peace Now.
The decision was confirmed Monday by the Israeli cabinet, at the same time as a decision to begin legalizing illegal outposts built on what Israel considers "state land" in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the government would consider further debate on other illegal settlement outposts at a later date.
7 mar 2011

Settlers on Monday opened fire at Palestinians, injuring three, in As-Sawiya village south of the West Bank city of Nablus, a Palestinian Authority official said.
Dozens of residents of the illegal Yash Adam outpost attacked the village, PA settlement affairs official Ghassan Doughlas said.
Palestinian ambulances could not reach the village as settlers blocked the roads, Doughlas added.
The United Nations and several NGOs have warned of a recent surge in violent attacks by settlers against Palestinians.
The Israeli government dismantled an illegal outpost in Nablus on February 28, leading to a spree of attacks. According to the settlers' "price-tag" policy, Palestinians are made to pay for perceived anti-settler activity by Israeli authorities.
Settlers have firebombed a Palestinian home, damaged cars, uprooted trees, blocked roads and smashed shops since the demolitions in Havad Gilat. The PA issued a warning to Palestinians to avoid areas where settlers gather for their own safety.
Settler, soldiers open fire on Palestinians
Dozens of residents of the illegal Yash Adam outpost attacked the village, PA settlement affairs official Ghassan Doughlas said.
Palestinian ambulances could not reach the village as settlers blocked the roads, Doughlas added.
The United Nations and several NGOs have warned of a recent surge in violent attacks by settlers against Palestinians.
The Israeli government dismantled an illegal outpost in Nablus on February 28, leading to a spree of attacks. According to the settlers' "price-tag" policy, Palestinians are made to pay for perceived anti-settler activity by Israeli authorities.
Settlers have firebombed a Palestinian home, damaged cars, uprooted trees, blocked roads and smashed shops since the demolitions in Havad Gilat. The PA issued a warning to Palestinians to avoid areas where settlers gather for their own safety.
Settler, soldiers open fire on Palestinians

Ten Palestinians and an Israeli settler were wounded on Monday during clashes in a village near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, a Palestinian official and witnesses said.
Ghassan Doughlas, an official in charge of tracking settler activity, said six Palestinians were taken to hospital and another four were on the way after being caught up in clashes with settlers in Qusra, a village 10 kilometers southeast of Nablus.
Witnesses said trouble flared when a large group of settlers began uprooting olive trees near the village. The villagers started throwing stones, prompting a settler to open fire.
"We found a lot of settlers uprooting olive trees and when they saw us they started throwing stones at the children, then a settler brought out his M-16 and started shooting at us," said local witness Raed Awdeh.
"We threw stones at them, then the army arrived and started shooting rubber bullets and tear gas bombs," he told AFP.
Medical sources said that so far they had treated eight Palestinians -- four of whom had been hit by live fire, and another four who had been injured by rubber bullets.
The other two were lightly injured by rubber bullets and were treated at the scene, they said.
A Jewish settler was also taken to hospital after being hit by a stone, settler spokeswoman Tamar Asraf told AFP, saying he had been injured by Palestinians who had approached the nearby settlement outpost of Esh Kodesh.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli army confirmed troops had opened fire on what she described as "an extremely violent riot."
"The security forces were attacked by Palestinians with rocks, and in response, they fired directly at those who were throwing rocks," she told AFP, saying troops had used live fire and directed it towards the Palestinians' lower bodies.
"Six Palestinians were injured as a result," she added, saying the incident was under investigation.
Last week, settlers cut down around 500 young olive trees near Qusra which had been planted on the site of a former settlement outpost.
Ma'an reporters and staff writers contributed to this report
Jewish settlers revel in Ibrahimi Mosque of Al-Khalil
Extremist Jewish settlers held earlier this week a boisterous party in the courtyards of the Ibrahimi Mosque of Al-Khalil city in which they used fireworks, played loud music and hysterically danced.
The settlers also attacked Palestinians and verbally abused them in different areas of Al-Khalil.
Last Saturday, hundreds of settlers gathered outside Abraham Obinwa settlement outpost in the heart of Al-Khalil and started to dance, sing, laugh and throw stones at the Palestinians amid racist slurs.
The settlers marched the streets of Sahla, Shuhada and Ikhwan Muslmoun while chanting racist slogans and threatening the Palestinians with death.
Right-winger and Jewish extremist Baruch Marzel, students of extremist rabbi Anat Cohen and other fanatic figures participated in the marches and attacks on Palestinians.
During the marches, the settlers attacked several Palestinian neighborhoods in the old city and hurled stones and empty bottles at Palestinian homes and residents.
They also smashed the windows of Palestinian homes and cars in these neighborhoods and spread terror among children and women.
Similar attacks were reported on a daily basis in the areas of Bab Azzawiya, Shalala and Beersheba, and in the vicinity of Tel Rumeida settlement.
In addition to the settlers attacks, the Israeli occupation forces demolished Palestinian property, including water wells in Wadi Gharos and Baqa`h areas east of Al-Khalil, bulldozed agricultural lands in Atwanah areas and around Susya settlement east of Yatta, and kidnapped many Palestinians from the towns of Beit Omar, Seir, Halhoul in the north of Al-Khalil.
Ghassan Doughlas, an official in charge of tracking settler activity, said six Palestinians were taken to hospital and another four were on the way after being caught up in clashes with settlers in Qusra, a village 10 kilometers southeast of Nablus.
Witnesses said trouble flared when a large group of settlers began uprooting olive trees near the village. The villagers started throwing stones, prompting a settler to open fire.
"We found a lot of settlers uprooting olive trees and when they saw us they started throwing stones at the children, then a settler brought out his M-16 and started shooting at us," said local witness Raed Awdeh.
"We threw stones at them, then the army arrived and started shooting rubber bullets and tear gas bombs," he told AFP.
Medical sources said that so far they had treated eight Palestinians -- four of whom had been hit by live fire, and another four who had been injured by rubber bullets.
The other two were lightly injured by rubber bullets and were treated at the scene, they said.
A Jewish settler was also taken to hospital after being hit by a stone, settler spokeswoman Tamar Asraf told AFP, saying he had been injured by Palestinians who had approached the nearby settlement outpost of Esh Kodesh.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli army confirmed troops had opened fire on what she described as "an extremely violent riot."
"The security forces were attacked by Palestinians with rocks, and in response, they fired directly at those who were throwing rocks," she told AFP, saying troops had used live fire and directed it towards the Palestinians' lower bodies.
"Six Palestinians were injured as a result," she added, saying the incident was under investigation.
Last week, settlers cut down around 500 young olive trees near Qusra which had been planted on the site of a former settlement outpost.
Ma'an reporters and staff writers contributed to this report
Jewish settlers revel in Ibrahimi Mosque of Al-Khalil
Extremist Jewish settlers held earlier this week a boisterous party in the courtyards of the Ibrahimi Mosque of Al-Khalil city in which they used fireworks, played loud music and hysterically danced.
The settlers also attacked Palestinians and verbally abused them in different areas of Al-Khalil.
Last Saturday, hundreds of settlers gathered outside Abraham Obinwa settlement outpost in the heart of Al-Khalil and started to dance, sing, laugh and throw stones at the Palestinians amid racist slurs.
The settlers marched the streets of Sahla, Shuhada and Ikhwan Muslmoun while chanting racist slogans and threatening the Palestinians with death.
Right-winger and Jewish extremist Baruch Marzel, students of extremist rabbi Anat Cohen and other fanatic figures participated in the marches and attacks on Palestinians.
During the marches, the settlers attacked several Palestinian neighborhoods in the old city and hurled stones and empty bottles at Palestinian homes and residents.
They also smashed the windows of Palestinian homes and cars in these neighborhoods and spread terror among children and women.
Similar attacks were reported on a daily basis in the areas of Bab Azzawiya, Shalala and Beersheba, and in the vicinity of Tel Rumeida settlement.
In addition to the settlers attacks, the Israeli occupation forces demolished Palestinian property, including water wells in Wadi Gharos and Baqa`h areas east of Al-Khalil, bulldozed agricultural lands in Atwanah areas and around Susya settlement east of Yatta, and kidnapped many Palestinians from the towns of Beit Omar, Seir, Halhoul in the north of Al-Khalil.
5 mar 2011
Settlers attack Palestinian villagers
Jewish settlers attacked on Saturday villagers of the Irak Burin south of Nablus city and tried to storm their village but were repelled by its inhabitants, local sources said.
Eyewitnesses told the PIC that the settlers from Bracha settlement attacked Palestinian farmers and shepherds near the village and threw stones at them.
They said that inhabitants of the village rushed to aid their compatriots and violent clashes ensued with both sides throwing stones at each other.
Last night groups of armed settlers stormed the village of Raba east of Jenin city to terrorize its inhabitants, witnesses said, adding that the around 20 armed settlers riding bicycles roamed the streets for 20 minutes while chanting anti Arab slogans and threats.
In Bethlehem, settlers dumped stones and sand west of the village of Artas, locals said, adding that the tens of trucks routinely dump such refuse in the same area threatening its environment.
Settlers attack Palestinian villagers
Jewish settlers attacked on Saturday villagers of the Irak Burin south of Nablus city and tried to storm their village but were repelled by its inhabitants, local sources said.
Eyewitnesses told the PIC that the settlers from Bracha settlement attacked Palestinian farmers and shepherds near the village and threw stones at them.
They said that inhabitants of the village rushed to aid their compatriots and violent clashes ensued with both sides throwing stones at each other.
Last night groups of armed settlers stormed the village of Raba east of Jenin city to terrorize its inhabitants, witnesses said, adding that the around 20 armed settlers riding bicycles roamed the streets for 20 minutes while chanting anti Arab slogans and threats.
In Bethlehem, settlers dumped stones and sand west of the village of Artas, locals said, adding that the tens of trucks routinely dump such refuse in the same area threatening its environment.
4 mar 2011

Hussam Rawidi, the victim
'He told me, I feel like killing them,' says mother of teen charged with killing Arab in Jerusalem.
The teen who allegedly killed a 24-year old Arab resident of east Jerusalem told his mother that he hates Arabs and wants to kill them, Ynet learned Thursday.
Four teens were arrested after the lethal fight that took place in early February. Of them, the alleged stabber was charged with manslaughter while his three friends have been charged with aggravated assault.
At his interrogation, the teen refused to admit his participation in the brawl. Only after his mother was brought in did he recount the events.
"That night we drank, we sat and got high," he said. "Afterwards we went out just walking around, it was around 1 or 2 am, and then these two Arabs came."
The teen said the two had picked a fight because one of the boys was wearing the scarf of Jerusalem's Beitar soccer team, which is identified with right-wing politics.
At this point, he said, Hussam Rawidi, the victim, jumped on his friend, so he attacked the assailant and cut him in the face. Rawidi's friend began to run away, and Rawidi ran off in the same direction, only to be pursued by the alleged stabber.
"I ran after him and then I saw him slip on the floor. I told my friends to get the knife because he had fallen and that was it," he said.
The teen did not know of Rawidi's death until the news report on it, he claims. "My friend called me while I was on the bus," he recalled. "He said that there was one who had been killed. I nearly fainted at that moment I was stressed out from the whole thing, but I didn't want to just turn myself in because I was stressed, I didn't know what to do."
After his mother told him to turn himself into police, he says, he took her advice. "There's something I want to say, that the fight was just because we fought. It wasn't because he was an Arab, even if he had been Jewish we would have fought%u2026 I was afraid of him, I didn't know he was Arab," he told police.
He also explained why he had used a knife. "I wanted to help, and suddenly I saw how big he was so I took out a knife. At first I went at him with nothing, the first thing I did was punch him but then I saw him go crazy so I wanted to take him down. I aimed there because I wanted to hurt him," he said.
"If I hadn't been high I wouldn't have stabbed him. I regret what happened, and I want to make a change," the teen said. He admits that he does not like Arabs, "but I wouldn't get into trouble over an Arab," he said.
'They heard us speaking Arabic'
His mother, who was also questioned, told police, "He doesn't like Arabs, he says he hates them. He has a lot of anger and hate, he hates them. He told me, 'I feel like killing them.' But I told him, 'To kill an Arab, is that worth your life?'"
One of the alleged stabber's friends also admitted to harboring hatred for the Arab race. "I live in a settlement and they committed terror attacks in my community," he explained, recounting a case in which terrorists had killed a woman and her three children. "I've never liked Arabs," he said.
Marad, Rawidi's friend, gave a different account of the fight. He said the boys had heard them speaking Arabic and said, "Arab jerks." Then the alleged stabber hit Rawidi in the head with his fist, Marad recounted.
"I came to separate between them, everything happened so fast, and then they let him go and started to hit me. They punched me in the head, the face, the neck, and the back," he said.
"My glasses fell and I couldn't see anything so I started running. More guys came, about four, and everyone was hitting us and my friend ran away and slipped in the middle of the road. I started to run after him and I saw that his shirt was all bloody in the front."
Marad said he picked up Rawidi and carried him into a nearby restaurant. "I sat him down, took of his hat and put it on his face. I saw a scary cut on his face with streams of blood coming down," he recounted. Then, while trying to stop the blood, he called the police and paramedics.
"When I sat him down he was conscious," Marad said. "He said, 'There goes my face.' I told him an ambulance was on its way, that he only had to stay awake, but when the ambulance arrived he lost consciousness."
When asked by interrogators whether they had provoked the boys, Marad answered in the negative. "We didn't even speak to them. I was just speaking with my friend in Arabic, and we were laughing as usual," he said.
When Buying Dinner Becomes Dangerous
PNN/Exclusive On Thursday, February 24, 20-year-old Mohamed Ghraib of al-Issawiya village near Jerusalem was driving home, bringing dinner from a restaurant in Jerusalem.
Mohamed took his youngest brother and his friend along for the ride. When they reached the intersection leading to the Ma`ale Adumim settlement, their car broke down.
As I was trying to see what happened to the car, three settlers stopped and offered to help," Mohammad recalled. "I thanked them and as I was speaking to them in Hebrew, they realized I was Arab. They started calling me bad names, then one of them pulled his gun and shot me in the knee.
Mohamed was taken immediately to al-Maqasid hospital in Jerusalem, then moved to the Israeli hospital of Hadasa where, doctors told him his knee was shattered and muscles torn.
Doctors installed a device to make me walk," he said, "but now I can`t leave my bed on my own.
Mohamed said he filed a police report and told Israeli officers that he could identify the settler who shot him. He also demanded they work on his case quickly. As of now, he is still lying in bed in pain and waiting for the police to arrest his attackers.
Update: Right-wing Israelis, settlers rally in 'day of rage'
Right-wing Israelis and settlers blocked a road to Jerusalem with burning tires and closed down train tracks to the country's airport on Thursday, in what was billed as a "day of rage."
Israeli news organizations said police evacuated protesters from highway 1 after a brief closure of the main artery, with the daily newspaper Haaretz saying that in Jerusalem, tires were set alight in a separate protest action.
A photographer saw around a dozen people being carted off by police near Modi'in, half-way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said no one had been formally arrested in connection with the protests.
On Thursday morning, the demonstrators tried to block a main highway and burned tires at the entrance to Jerusalem, but police arrived on the scene to dismantle the impromptu roadblocks, Rosenfeld said.
News website Ynet reported that around 50 right-wing activists gathered on a West Bank road to demonstrate and some of the protesters had slashed the tyres of a police car.
The day of protests came in response to the demolition of a caravan, a tent and another half-built structure at the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus on Monday. The outpost was built without permission from the Israeli government.
During the incident, settlers say police used excessive force to remove demonstrators, using stun grenades and paint ball guns against them.
Some hardline settlers threatened to carry out "price tag" attacks against Palestinians on Thursday. This involves attacks on the local population as a direct response to "anti-settler" activity by the Israeli government.
But despite the threats, there did not appear to be any signs of widespread action against Palestinians by sundown.
Police had been on high alert all day, including in the West Bank, to prevent violence, Rosenfeld told AFP.
"We have stepped up patrols in different areas in Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Jerusalem and we are prepared to deal with disturbances as they happen," Rosenfeld said.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority issued a call to the international community to intervene and protect civilians from violent settler action.
PA: World must act on settler violence
The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday urged the international community to take action to halt Jewish settler violence towards Palestinians.
Following a series of attacks against Palestinians across the West Bank, the Ramallah-based leadership issued a statement demanding the international community "intervene with Israel over the violent and provocative actions by settlers, which the Israeli authorities refuse to control."
In recent days, angry settlers have launched several attacks on Palestinian villagers after Israeli police razed several structures on one of their settlement outposts, in line with a so-called "price-tag" policy.
In one incident, settlers firebombed a house in the village of Huwwara near Nablus, and two children were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
They also smashed up shops and damaged cars near the southern city of Hebron, Palestinian security officials said.
"There has been a surge of violence by settlers against law-abiding Palestinian citizens in recent days," said Ghassan Khatib, head of the government media centre, urging the international community "to send a clear message to Israel that its tolerance of settler violence is dangerous and provocative.
"These settlers act as if (they are) above the law, and the failure of the Israeli authorities to take action suggests that the rule of law does not apply to them."
Jewish settlers have warned they will stage a "Day of Rage" on Thursday to protest against what they claim was police brutality during Monday's demolition of several structures on the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus.
It was not immediately clear what form the protest would take, but in the past, settler protests have involved sit-ins at major road junctions.
Speaking to AFP on Tuesday, one far-right activist from Havat Gilad warned the settlers may even enter Palestinian villages to throw out the residents.
'He told me, I feel like killing them,' says mother of teen charged with killing Arab in Jerusalem.
The teen who allegedly killed a 24-year old Arab resident of east Jerusalem told his mother that he hates Arabs and wants to kill them, Ynet learned Thursday.
Four teens were arrested after the lethal fight that took place in early February. Of them, the alleged stabber was charged with manslaughter while his three friends have been charged with aggravated assault.
At his interrogation, the teen refused to admit his participation in the brawl. Only after his mother was brought in did he recount the events.
"That night we drank, we sat and got high," he said. "Afterwards we went out just walking around, it was around 1 or 2 am, and then these two Arabs came."
The teen said the two had picked a fight because one of the boys was wearing the scarf of Jerusalem's Beitar soccer team, which is identified with right-wing politics.
At this point, he said, Hussam Rawidi, the victim, jumped on his friend, so he attacked the assailant and cut him in the face. Rawidi's friend began to run away, and Rawidi ran off in the same direction, only to be pursued by the alleged stabber.
"I ran after him and then I saw him slip on the floor. I told my friends to get the knife because he had fallen and that was it," he said.
The teen did not know of Rawidi's death until the news report on it, he claims. "My friend called me while I was on the bus," he recalled. "He said that there was one who had been killed. I nearly fainted at that moment I was stressed out from the whole thing, but I didn't want to just turn myself in because I was stressed, I didn't know what to do."
After his mother told him to turn himself into police, he says, he took her advice. "There's something I want to say, that the fight was just because we fought. It wasn't because he was an Arab, even if he had been Jewish we would have fought%u2026 I was afraid of him, I didn't know he was Arab," he told police.
He also explained why he had used a knife. "I wanted to help, and suddenly I saw how big he was so I took out a knife. At first I went at him with nothing, the first thing I did was punch him but then I saw him go crazy so I wanted to take him down. I aimed there because I wanted to hurt him," he said.
"If I hadn't been high I wouldn't have stabbed him. I regret what happened, and I want to make a change," the teen said. He admits that he does not like Arabs, "but I wouldn't get into trouble over an Arab," he said.
'They heard us speaking Arabic'
His mother, who was also questioned, told police, "He doesn't like Arabs, he says he hates them. He has a lot of anger and hate, he hates them. He told me, 'I feel like killing them.' But I told him, 'To kill an Arab, is that worth your life?'"
One of the alleged stabber's friends also admitted to harboring hatred for the Arab race. "I live in a settlement and they committed terror attacks in my community," he explained, recounting a case in which terrorists had killed a woman and her three children. "I've never liked Arabs," he said.
Marad, Rawidi's friend, gave a different account of the fight. He said the boys had heard them speaking Arabic and said, "Arab jerks." Then the alleged stabber hit Rawidi in the head with his fist, Marad recounted.
"I came to separate between them, everything happened so fast, and then they let him go and started to hit me. They punched me in the head, the face, the neck, and the back," he said.
"My glasses fell and I couldn't see anything so I started running. More guys came, about four, and everyone was hitting us and my friend ran away and slipped in the middle of the road. I started to run after him and I saw that his shirt was all bloody in the front."
Marad said he picked up Rawidi and carried him into a nearby restaurant. "I sat him down, took of his hat and put it on his face. I saw a scary cut on his face with streams of blood coming down," he recounted. Then, while trying to stop the blood, he called the police and paramedics.
"When I sat him down he was conscious," Marad said. "He said, 'There goes my face.' I told him an ambulance was on its way, that he only had to stay awake, but when the ambulance arrived he lost consciousness."
When asked by interrogators whether they had provoked the boys, Marad answered in the negative. "We didn't even speak to them. I was just speaking with my friend in Arabic, and we were laughing as usual," he said.
When Buying Dinner Becomes Dangerous
PNN/Exclusive On Thursday, February 24, 20-year-old Mohamed Ghraib of al-Issawiya village near Jerusalem was driving home, bringing dinner from a restaurant in Jerusalem.
Mohamed took his youngest brother and his friend along for the ride. When they reached the intersection leading to the Ma`ale Adumim settlement, their car broke down.
As I was trying to see what happened to the car, three settlers stopped and offered to help," Mohammad recalled. "I thanked them and as I was speaking to them in Hebrew, they realized I was Arab. They started calling me bad names, then one of them pulled his gun and shot me in the knee.
Mohamed was taken immediately to al-Maqasid hospital in Jerusalem, then moved to the Israeli hospital of Hadasa where, doctors told him his knee was shattered and muscles torn.
Doctors installed a device to make me walk," he said, "but now I can`t leave my bed on my own.
Mohamed said he filed a police report and told Israeli officers that he could identify the settler who shot him. He also demanded they work on his case quickly. As of now, he is still lying in bed in pain and waiting for the police to arrest his attackers.
Update: Right-wing Israelis, settlers rally in 'day of rage'
Right-wing Israelis and settlers blocked a road to Jerusalem with burning tires and closed down train tracks to the country's airport on Thursday, in what was billed as a "day of rage."
Israeli news organizations said police evacuated protesters from highway 1 after a brief closure of the main artery, with the daily newspaper Haaretz saying that in Jerusalem, tires were set alight in a separate protest action.
A photographer saw around a dozen people being carted off by police near Modi'in, half-way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said no one had been formally arrested in connection with the protests.
On Thursday morning, the demonstrators tried to block a main highway and burned tires at the entrance to Jerusalem, but police arrived on the scene to dismantle the impromptu roadblocks, Rosenfeld said.
News website Ynet reported that around 50 right-wing activists gathered on a West Bank road to demonstrate and some of the protesters had slashed the tyres of a police car.
The day of protests came in response to the demolition of a caravan, a tent and another half-built structure at the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus on Monday. The outpost was built without permission from the Israeli government.
During the incident, settlers say police used excessive force to remove demonstrators, using stun grenades and paint ball guns against them.
Some hardline settlers threatened to carry out "price tag" attacks against Palestinians on Thursday. This involves attacks on the local population as a direct response to "anti-settler" activity by the Israeli government.
But despite the threats, there did not appear to be any signs of widespread action against Palestinians by sundown.
Police had been on high alert all day, including in the West Bank, to prevent violence, Rosenfeld told AFP.
"We have stepped up patrols in different areas in Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Jerusalem and we are prepared to deal with disturbances as they happen," Rosenfeld said.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority issued a call to the international community to intervene and protect civilians from violent settler action.
PA: World must act on settler violence
The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday urged the international community to take action to halt Jewish settler violence towards Palestinians.
Following a series of attacks against Palestinians across the West Bank, the Ramallah-based leadership issued a statement demanding the international community "intervene with Israel over the violent and provocative actions by settlers, which the Israeli authorities refuse to control."
In recent days, angry settlers have launched several attacks on Palestinian villagers after Israeli police razed several structures on one of their settlement outposts, in line with a so-called "price-tag" policy.
In one incident, settlers firebombed a house in the village of Huwwara near Nablus, and two children were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
They also smashed up shops and damaged cars near the southern city of Hebron, Palestinian security officials said.
"There has been a surge of violence by settlers against law-abiding Palestinian citizens in recent days," said Ghassan Khatib, head of the government media centre, urging the international community "to send a clear message to Israel that its tolerance of settler violence is dangerous and provocative.
"These settlers act as if (they are) above the law, and the failure of the Israeli authorities to take action suggests that the rule of law does not apply to them."
Jewish settlers have warned they will stage a "Day of Rage" on Thursday to protest against what they claim was police brutality during Monday's demolition of several structures on the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus.
It was not immediately clear what form the protest would take, but in the past, settler protests have involved sit-ins at major road junctions.
Speaking to AFP on Tuesday, one far-right activist from Havat Gilad warned the settlers may even enter Palestinian villages to throw out the residents.
West Bank: Settlers Destroy 500 Olive Saplings, Three Arrested and Car Impounded in Hebron
Israeli settlers near the northern West Bank city of Nablus destroyed at least 500 young olive saplings before dawn on Friday, according to local sources. In the southern West Bank, three Palestinians were arrested near the city of Hebron and a car was confiscated.
The saplings, less than a week old, were destroyed in the village of Qasra, southeast of Nablus. Eyewitnesses said the trees were planted close to an illegal settlement on Palestinian land.
Ghassan Douglas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) official in charge of filing settler attacks in the northern West Bank, confirmed the incident. A local source said the settlers came in the middle of the night.
In al-Walajeh village, near the southern west Bank city of Bethlehem, Palestinians began replanting destroyed olive trees near the planned route of the wall, which completely encircles the small village. Shirin al-Araj of the local Committee Against the Wall and Settlements said it was an effort to reclaim the land.
Near Hebron in the south, three Palestinians were arrested in dawn raids in surrounding villages. The arrestees were 42-year-old Awad Abu Zalteh of Ithna village, 28-year old Hameed Fathi Halayqeh of Shuyukh, and 20-year-old Mustafa Ghanaymat of Sourif. They were taken to an unknown location.
A car belonging to Muhammad al-Qasrawi was confiscated from in front of his home in Wadi al-Huriya in Hebron.
Settlers chop down 500 trees in Nablus
Settlers chopped down more than 500 olive trees owned by Palestinians in the West Bank district of Nablus on Friday, Palestinian Authority officials said.
Residents of the illegal Shvut Rachel settlement raided Qusra village and chopped down the trees, said Ghassan Doughlas, PA official for settlement affairs in the northern West Bank.
In a "day of rage" Thursday, right-wing Israelis and settlers blocked a road to Jerusalem and closed down train tracks to the country's airport.
Settlers were protesting the demolition of several structures at an illegal outpost near Nablus by the Israeli government. They threatened to carry-out "price-tag" attacks against Palestinians in response to the government's "anti-settler" activity.
In the past, the "price tag" has included arson, shootings, beatings, burning fields, uprooting trees and poisoning water wells belonging to Palestinians.
Following a recent surge in settler violence -- including fire-bombing Palestinian homes, smashing shops and damaging cars -- the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday urged the international community to intervene and stop the attacks.
Settlers desecrate mosque in al-Khalil
Dozens of fanatic Jewish settlers, at dawn Thursday, stormed the Nabi Younis Mosque in the town of Halhoul to the north of the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil.
Local sources told PIC that more than a hundred fanatic settlers, some of them armed, stormed the mosque under the protection of IOF troops and carried out Talmodic rituals inside and outside the mosque, challenging the feelings of the residents.
The local resident also said that the IOF troops closed the northern entrance to the town at the Nabi Younis Junction for several hours to facilitate the settlers access to the mosque.
Meanwhile, the IOF troops arrested two brothers in the city of al-Khalil, confiscated a car and car parts from the shop run by the two brothers, Muhammad and Abdul-Ghani Abu al-Dabaat.
Israeli settlers near the northern West Bank city of Nablus destroyed at least 500 young olive saplings before dawn on Friday, according to local sources. In the southern West Bank, three Palestinians were arrested near the city of Hebron and a car was confiscated.
The saplings, less than a week old, were destroyed in the village of Qasra, southeast of Nablus. Eyewitnesses said the trees were planted close to an illegal settlement on Palestinian land.
Ghassan Douglas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) official in charge of filing settler attacks in the northern West Bank, confirmed the incident. A local source said the settlers came in the middle of the night.
In al-Walajeh village, near the southern west Bank city of Bethlehem, Palestinians began replanting destroyed olive trees near the planned route of the wall, which completely encircles the small village. Shirin al-Araj of the local Committee Against the Wall and Settlements said it was an effort to reclaim the land.
Near Hebron in the south, three Palestinians were arrested in dawn raids in surrounding villages. The arrestees were 42-year-old Awad Abu Zalteh of Ithna village, 28-year old Hameed Fathi Halayqeh of Shuyukh, and 20-year-old Mustafa Ghanaymat of Sourif. They were taken to an unknown location.
A car belonging to Muhammad al-Qasrawi was confiscated from in front of his home in Wadi al-Huriya in Hebron.
Settlers chop down 500 trees in Nablus
Settlers chopped down more than 500 olive trees owned by Palestinians in the West Bank district of Nablus on Friday, Palestinian Authority officials said.
Residents of the illegal Shvut Rachel settlement raided Qusra village and chopped down the trees, said Ghassan Doughlas, PA official for settlement affairs in the northern West Bank.
In a "day of rage" Thursday, right-wing Israelis and settlers blocked a road to Jerusalem and closed down train tracks to the country's airport.
Settlers were protesting the demolition of several structures at an illegal outpost near Nablus by the Israeli government. They threatened to carry-out "price-tag" attacks against Palestinians in response to the government's "anti-settler" activity.
In the past, the "price tag" has included arson, shootings, beatings, burning fields, uprooting trees and poisoning water wells belonging to Palestinians.
Following a recent surge in settler violence -- including fire-bombing Palestinian homes, smashing shops and damaging cars -- the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday urged the international community to intervene and stop the attacks.
Settlers desecrate mosque in al-Khalil
Dozens of fanatic Jewish settlers, at dawn Thursday, stormed the Nabi Younis Mosque in the town of Halhoul to the north of the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil.
Local sources told PIC that more than a hundred fanatic settlers, some of them armed, stormed the mosque under the protection of IOF troops and carried out Talmodic rituals inside and outside the mosque, challenging the feelings of the residents.
The local resident also said that the IOF troops closed the northern entrance to the town at the Nabi Younis Junction for several hours to facilitate the settlers access to the mosque.
Meanwhile, the IOF troops arrested two brothers in the city of al-Khalil, confiscated a car and car parts from the shop run by the two brothers, Muhammad and Abdul-Ghani Abu al-Dabaat.
3 mar 2011

Havat Gilad after Monday's razing
Ynet joins organizers of protests planned by rightists in response to police violence at Havat Gilad.
Ynet peeks into the rightists' war room: In a small apartment on the second floor of a building in Hebron's Jewish quarter, 12 right-wing activists gathered to create plans on how best to disrupt life in Israel, or what they call their "day of rage".
The protests against police violence during the razing of illegal structures in Havat Gilad Monday, for which settlers vowed payback, began at 7 am Thursday, with activists blocking major junctions near Jerusalem. But the worst was yet to come. In their war room, organizers mapped out areas in which protesters would clash with security forces.
The men manning the room include Bentzi Gopstein, Baruch Marzel, representatives of the Hilltop Youth, supporters of the infamous Rabbi Meir Kahane, and others. Some are suspected of committing 'Price tag' offenses.
They gathered in the living room of the apartment, where shelves are lined with Kahane's writings, leaving behind cell phones for fear of wiretapping. The lady of the house served refreshments.
Ynet joins organizers of protests planned by rightists in response to police violence at Havat Gilad.
Ynet peeks into the rightists' war room: In a small apartment on the second floor of a building in Hebron's Jewish quarter, 12 right-wing activists gathered to create plans on how best to disrupt life in Israel, or what they call their "day of rage".
The protests against police violence during the razing of illegal structures in Havat Gilad Monday, for which settlers vowed payback, began at 7 am Thursday, with activists blocking major junctions near Jerusalem. But the worst was yet to come. In their war room, organizers mapped out areas in which protesters would clash with security forces.
The men manning the room include Bentzi Gopstein, Baruch Marzel, representatives of the Hilltop Youth, supporters of the infamous Rabbi Meir Kahane, and others. Some are suspected of committing 'Price tag' offenses.
They gathered in the living room of the apartment, where shelves are lined with Kahane's writings, leaving behind cell phones for fear of wiretapping. The lady of the house served refreshments.

Gopstein: I saw hatred in their eyes
The meeting lasted two hours altogether. One of those present, of an outpost in south Mount Hebron, inveighed against the interior minister, who said after Monday's clashes that settlers were shot with plastic bullets because they had attacked officers.
"The support Minister Aharonovitch gave officers who rioted in Havat Gilad proves that we cannot trust the government and it's time to take matters into our own hands. We must understand that there are officials in the government and police who would love to see the blood of settlers spilled. We cannot be fools," he said.
Another activist said revenge was in order for the clashes. "We must create an organized plan that will make Bibi sorry for what he did, not only on Thursday, but for all of the coming months," he said, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"It's clear that the government is aiming for a battle with us and those who begin the war must understand that there will be consequences."
Aharonovitch to be smeared?
The meeting lasted two hours altogether. One of those present, of an outpost in south Mount Hebron, inveighed against the interior minister, who said after Monday's clashes that settlers were shot with plastic bullets because they had attacked officers.
"The support Minister Aharonovitch gave officers who rioted in Havat Gilad proves that we cannot trust the government and it's time to take matters into our own hands. We must understand that there are officials in the government and police who would love to see the blood of settlers spilled. We cannot be fools," he said.
Another activist said revenge was in order for the clashes. "We must create an organized plan that will make Bibi sorry for what he did, not only on Thursday, but for all of the coming months," he said, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"It's clear that the government is aiming for a battle with us and those who begin the war must understand that there will be consequences."
Aharonovitch to be smeared?

Palestinian car torched
Bentzi Gopstein, of the Chasdei Meir Charity Fund, presented the others with a bag activists are planning to hand out to protesters, free of charge. The provisions within include a helmet and vest made of sturdy plastic, used to defend protesters against riot dispersal means police may implement.
"We must fit the guys out with proper gear that will allow them to defend themselves against these madmen. At Havat Gilad I saw the hatred in their eyes. I saw the damage they did and made a decision that we must allow our men to defend themselves," he said.
Gopstein added that his fund had acquired the gear using donations. "What happened in Amona and Havat Gilad must not happen again," he warned.
Other plans brought up in the meeting included a smear campaign against Aharonovitch. "We must come to his house and chase after him wherever he goes, in order to explain to everyone that this is a minister more suited for Meretz than the party of Avigdor Lieberman," one of the organizers said.
Bentzi Gopstein, of the Chasdei Meir Charity Fund, presented the others with a bag activists are planning to hand out to protesters, free of charge. The provisions within include a helmet and vest made of sturdy plastic, used to defend protesters against riot dispersal means police may implement.
"We must fit the guys out with proper gear that will allow them to defend themselves against these madmen. At Havat Gilad I saw the hatred in their eyes. I saw the damage they did and made a decision that we must allow our men to defend themselves," he said.
Gopstein added that his fund had acquired the gear using donations. "What happened in Amona and Havat Gilad must not happen again," he warned.
Other plans brought up in the meeting included a smear campaign against Aharonovitch. "We must come to his house and chase after him wherever he goes, in order to explain to everyone that this is a minister more suited for Meretz than the party of Avigdor Lieberman," one of the organizers said.

Marzel: Bibi is a pyromaniac
Representatives of the Hilltop Youth Movement suggested activists infiltrate Palestinian territories in the West Bank including Jericho, Nablus, and other villages situated between the A and B territories.
The organizers also discussed blocking junctions in the West Bank and throughout Israel, some of which were indeed blocked Thursday morning.
Baruch Marzel summed up the meeting. "The three pyromaniacs Bibi, Barak, and Aharonovitch are playing into the hands of the settlement. We should thank them for waking people up after a long sleep. They are adding fuel to the tires," he said.
"I prefer this situation, because I think Bibi is dangerous and that he will bring destruction. After Havat Gilad it is a good thing for people to sober up and realize that Bibi and Aharonovitch are not on our side, they are on the other side," Marzel concluded.
5 additional rightists arrested in protests
Police arrested five right-wing activists who attempted to block a road in Jerusalem. Officers say the protesters have been dispersed and that the road is now open.
Rightists torch tires, attempt to block road to Jerusalem
The settlers' "day of rage" continues as protesters tried to block the entrance to Jerusalem using tires they had set aflame. They were dispersed by police. Twenty protesters were arrested.
Settlers succeeded in blocking the entrance to Ramallah as well as Shilat junction in the West Bank.
Settlers block El-Al junction near Ben-Gurion airport
Settlers protesting near Ben-Gurion airport have blocked off El-Al intersection as part of their 'day of rage' rally following the demolition of Havat Gilad earlier this week.
Police forces are making their way to the location.
Representatives of the Hilltop Youth Movement suggested activists infiltrate Palestinian territories in the West Bank including Jericho, Nablus, and other villages situated between the A and B territories.
The organizers also discussed blocking junctions in the West Bank and throughout Israel, some of which were indeed blocked Thursday morning.
Baruch Marzel summed up the meeting. "The three pyromaniacs Bibi, Barak, and Aharonovitch are playing into the hands of the settlement. We should thank them for waking people up after a long sleep. They are adding fuel to the tires," he said.
"I prefer this situation, because I think Bibi is dangerous and that he will bring destruction. After Havat Gilad it is a good thing for people to sober up and realize that Bibi and Aharonovitch are not on our side, they are on the other side," Marzel concluded.
5 additional rightists arrested in protests
Police arrested five right-wing activists who attempted to block a road in Jerusalem. Officers say the protesters have been dispersed and that the road is now open.
Rightists torch tires, attempt to block road to Jerusalem
The settlers' "day of rage" continues as protesters tried to block the entrance to Jerusalem using tires they had set aflame. They were dispersed by police. Twenty protesters were arrested.
Settlers succeeded in blocking the entrance to Ramallah as well as Shilat junction in the West Bank.
Settlers block El-Al junction near Ben-Gurion airport
Settlers protesting near Ben-Gurion airport have blocked off El-Al intersection as part of their 'day of rage' rally following the demolition of Havat Gilad earlier this week.
Police forces are making their way to the location.

Right-wing Israelis and settlers blocked a road to Jerusalem with burning tires and closed down train tracks to the country's airport on Thursday, in what was billed as a "day of rage."
Israeli news organizations said police evacuated protesters from highway 1 after a brief closure of the main artery, with the daily newspaper Haaretz saying that in Jerusalem, tires were set alight in a separate protest action.
A photographer saw around a dozen people being carted off by police near Modi'in, half-way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said no one had been formally arrested in connection with the protests.
On Thursday morning, the demonstrators tried to block a main highway and burned tires at the entrance to Jerusalem, but police arrived on the scene to dismantle the impromptu roadblocks, Rosenfeld said.
News website Ynet reported that around 50 right-wing activists gathered on a West Bank road to demonstrate and some of the protesters had slashed the tyres of a police car.
The day of protests came in response to the demolition of a caravan, a tent and another half-built structure at the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus on Monday. The outpost was built without permission from the Israeli government.
During the incident, settlers say police used excessive force to remove demonstrators, using stun grenades and paint ball guns against them.
Some hardline settlers threatened to carry out "price tag" attacks against Palestinians on Thursday. This involves attacks on the local population as a direct response to "anti-settler" activity by the Israeli government.
But despite the threats, there did not appear to be any signs of widespread action against Palestinians by sundown.
Police had been on high alert all day, including in the West Bank, to prevent violence, Rosenfeld told AFP.
"We have stepped up patrols in different areas in Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Jerusalem and we are prepared to deal with disturbances as they happen," Rosenfeld said.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority issued a call to the international community to intervene and protect civilians from violent settler action.
Palestinians: Settlers stoned cars near Nablus
Palestinian elements claim that settlers stoned passing cars at an intersection connecting route 55 and route 60 west of Nablus.
Settler protest stirs havoc nationwide
Settlers block Highway 1 by torching tires, later cleared by police. Twenty women blocking El Al junction arrested. Protess also held in Hebron, Ramallah. Police commissioner says will fully back officers who responded to riots.
A rightist day of rage aimed at protesting a violent outpost demolition earlier this week caused mayhem at several sites across Israel Thursday.
Earlier in the evening, a group of settlers tried to block the entrance to Jerusalem at the Sakharov Gardens junction. The protesters torched tires at the site, engulfing the area in smoke. Police forces at the scene cleared the tires and prevented the settlers from stopping traffic.
Later Thursday, demonstrators rallying near Ben-Gurion Airport blocked the El Al junction as part of their protest against police violence during the razing of Havat Gilad earlier this week. About 30 young women carried signs reading: "They shoot in Havat Gilad, we stop the State" and "The war is with the Arabs."
Police forces were dispatched to the scene and arrested 20 protesters.
Meanwhile, some 40 people held a protest at an intersection in Samaria, and some 80 other right-wingers blocked the entrance to a local village near the West Bank town of Hebron. The entrance to Ramallah from Beit El was also blocked by the protestors at some point.
Also Thursday, police arrested 15 protesters who tried to stop traffic at the Shilat Junction while shouting: "A Jew doesn't deport a Jew." They were dragged off the road by police and later questioned. A few tried to escape and run back to the road.
"We are here because Jewish houses are being demolished and Jews are being shot," a protester said.
Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen said: "The officers have full support to implement police policy, uncompromising policy, towards rioters. We'll only allow legitimate and legal demonstrations and rallies."
Police forces, including undercover officers, were deployed around the country to prevent the blocking of roads by protesters.
The activists promised to continue to disrupt traffic. "We're protesting against the expulsion of Jews from their homes using plastic bullets. It's a declaration of war," Aharon Rabin, a former Havat Gilad resident, told Ynet.
"Our goal isn't to endanger the passengers but to wake the public up and tell them what is going on in places they don't really pay attention to. Today we fight for our homes - tomorrow we fight for their homes. Our actions won't stop here, they'll just continue to grow," he said.
Protesters said another big rally was to take place at Mercaz HaRav, a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, where activists plan to gather following a memorial ceremony for the victims of a terrorist attack that took place there in 2008.
Protestors try to stop train
Addressing the broad protest, right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir said: "It's a fight for civil rights and justice. When policemen shoot at innocent civilians, it's legitimate to hold a raging protest. The blame for the blocking of roads is on Bibi and (Internal Security Minister Yitzhak) Aharonovitch."
The events began around 7:30 am on Thusrday. Some 15 right-wing activists blocked the road connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as part of a nationwide "day of rage," organized to protest the demolition of illegal structures at the illegal Havat Gilad outpost in the West Bank.
The activists also attempted to disrupt train traffic. Several rightist protestors stood on the train tracks leading from Modi'in to Ben-Gurion Airport. They stepped off the tracks just before the train arrived.
In a separate incident, tires were set on fire in the entrance to Jerusalem at around 7 am, in what security officials estimate was another protest linked to the "day of rage." The tires were cleared by police officers. The perpetrators were not caught.
Israeli news organizations said police evacuated protesters from highway 1 after a brief closure of the main artery, with the daily newspaper Haaretz saying that in Jerusalem, tires were set alight in a separate protest action.
A photographer saw around a dozen people being carted off by police near Modi'in, half-way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said no one had been formally arrested in connection with the protests.
On Thursday morning, the demonstrators tried to block a main highway and burned tires at the entrance to Jerusalem, but police arrived on the scene to dismantle the impromptu roadblocks, Rosenfeld said.
News website Ynet reported that around 50 right-wing activists gathered on a West Bank road to demonstrate and some of the protesters had slashed the tyres of a police car.
The day of protests came in response to the demolition of a caravan, a tent and another half-built structure at the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus on Monday. The outpost was built without permission from the Israeli government.
During the incident, settlers say police used excessive force to remove demonstrators, using stun grenades and paint ball guns against them.
Some hardline settlers threatened to carry out "price tag" attacks against Palestinians on Thursday. This involves attacks on the local population as a direct response to "anti-settler" activity by the Israeli government.
But despite the threats, there did not appear to be any signs of widespread action against Palestinians by sundown.
Police had been on high alert all day, including in the West Bank, to prevent violence, Rosenfeld told AFP.
"We have stepped up patrols in different areas in Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Jerusalem and we are prepared to deal with disturbances as they happen," Rosenfeld said.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority issued a call to the international community to intervene and protect civilians from violent settler action.
Palestinians: Settlers stoned cars near Nablus
Palestinian elements claim that settlers stoned passing cars at an intersection connecting route 55 and route 60 west of Nablus.
Settler protest stirs havoc nationwide
Settlers block Highway 1 by torching tires, later cleared by police. Twenty women blocking El Al junction arrested. Protess also held in Hebron, Ramallah. Police commissioner says will fully back officers who responded to riots.
A rightist day of rage aimed at protesting a violent outpost demolition earlier this week caused mayhem at several sites across Israel Thursday.
Earlier in the evening, a group of settlers tried to block the entrance to Jerusalem at the Sakharov Gardens junction. The protesters torched tires at the site, engulfing the area in smoke. Police forces at the scene cleared the tires and prevented the settlers from stopping traffic.
Later Thursday, demonstrators rallying near Ben-Gurion Airport blocked the El Al junction as part of their protest against police violence during the razing of Havat Gilad earlier this week. About 30 young women carried signs reading: "They shoot in Havat Gilad, we stop the State" and "The war is with the Arabs."
Police forces were dispatched to the scene and arrested 20 protesters.
Meanwhile, some 40 people held a protest at an intersection in Samaria, and some 80 other right-wingers blocked the entrance to a local village near the West Bank town of Hebron. The entrance to Ramallah from Beit El was also blocked by the protestors at some point.
Also Thursday, police arrested 15 protesters who tried to stop traffic at the Shilat Junction while shouting: "A Jew doesn't deport a Jew." They were dragged off the road by police and later questioned. A few tried to escape and run back to the road.
"We are here because Jewish houses are being demolished and Jews are being shot," a protester said.
Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen said: "The officers have full support to implement police policy, uncompromising policy, towards rioters. We'll only allow legitimate and legal demonstrations and rallies."
Police forces, including undercover officers, were deployed around the country to prevent the blocking of roads by protesters.
The activists promised to continue to disrupt traffic. "We're protesting against the expulsion of Jews from their homes using plastic bullets. It's a declaration of war," Aharon Rabin, a former Havat Gilad resident, told Ynet.
"Our goal isn't to endanger the passengers but to wake the public up and tell them what is going on in places they don't really pay attention to. Today we fight for our homes - tomorrow we fight for their homes. Our actions won't stop here, they'll just continue to grow," he said.
Protesters said another big rally was to take place at Mercaz HaRav, a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, where activists plan to gather following a memorial ceremony for the victims of a terrorist attack that took place there in 2008.
Protestors try to stop train
Addressing the broad protest, right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir said: "It's a fight for civil rights and justice. When policemen shoot at innocent civilians, it's legitimate to hold a raging protest. The blame for the blocking of roads is on Bibi and (Internal Security Minister Yitzhak) Aharonovitch."
The events began around 7:30 am on Thusrday. Some 15 right-wing activists blocked the road connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as part of a nationwide "day of rage," organized to protest the demolition of illegal structures at the illegal Havat Gilad outpost in the West Bank.
The activists also attempted to disrupt train traffic. Several rightist protestors stood on the train tracks leading from Modi'in to Ben-Gurion Airport. They stepped off the tracks just before the train arrived.
In a separate incident, tires were set on fire in the entrance to Jerusalem at around 7 am, in what security officials estimate was another protest linked to the "day of rage." The tires were cleared by police officers. The perpetrators were not caught.
2 mar 2011
Jewish settlers mobilize for Thursday of rage against Palestinians
Jewish settlers in the West Bank have called for days of rage against the Israeli premier and Palestinians alike to protest what they call a systematic harassment policy against them.
Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot on Wednesday reported that posters were glued on different West Bank areas calling on settlers to join the Thursday of rage while referring to Israeli destruction of minor settlement outposts such as Havat Gilad.
The paper said that the settlers threatened to close all major intersections in Israel and the West Bank to protest the "random destruction" of their settlement outposts.
The settlers also threatened to launch an attack on Palestinians in return for each settlement outpost being razed.
Jewish settlers mobilize for Thursday of rage against Palestinians
Jewish settlers in the West Bank have called for days of rage against the Israeli premier and Palestinians alike to protest what they call a systematic harassment policy against them.
Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot on Wednesday reported that posters were glued on different West Bank areas calling on settlers to join the Thursday of rage while referring to Israeli destruction of minor settlement outposts such as Havat Gilad.
The paper said that the settlers threatened to close all major intersections in Israel and the West Bank to protest the "random destruction" of their settlement outposts.
The settlers also threatened to launch an attack on Palestinians in return for each settlement outpost being razed.
1 mar 2011
Settlers Injure Two Palestinians, Uproot 25 Trees in Violent Reprisals in West Bank
A Palestinian man and his wife were burned on Tuesday when Jewish settlers threw fire bombs into their house south of Nablus, part of a series of violent reprisals believed to be in response to the Israeli evacuation of illegal outposts in the northern West Bank. Near Bethlehem, settlers uprooted 250 olive trees and in Hebron, a settler hit over a five-year-old boy with his car.
The attacks near Nablus happened in the village of Huwwara. Ghassan Douglas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) official in charge of filing settler attacks, told Palestinian state-run news wire Wafa that a number of settlers burned the home of Rabi Taha Tamizi, who was injured along with his wife from burns and smoke inhalation. They were both taken to the Nablus city hospital for treatment.
Douglas also said settlers burned a car belonging to a local Palestinian, unnamed, and closed roads in the region with the help of the Israeli army. According to Israeli news source Ha`aretz, however, the Israeli army stopped settlers from attacking a mosque in the nearby village of Bureen.
The violence is response to the dismantling of an illegal Israeli settlement outpost called Havat Gilad, built on a hilltop near Nablus. Attacks on Palestinians after Israel bulldozes or otherwise counteracts settlement projects is a practice known as price-tagging.
Near Bethlehem, settlers coordinated with Israeli troops to uproot 25 olive trees on Jabal al-Faradis. Local sources said some of the settlers were armed with rifles and came in the middle of the night, accompanied by Israeli soldiers. The land in question was owned by Ahmed Muhammad al-Wahash of Jabal al-Faradis. The settlers uprooted the trees and left with them by dawn.
According to locals, Jabal al-Faradis has been surrounded for several years, with settlers threatening farmers with violence if they come near their crops.
In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, settlers from Ramot Yishai attacked the home of a Palestinian family in Tell al-Rumeida. Eyewitnesses said settlers first pelted the home with stones, then beat Tariq Yunis Abu Aisha, 35, and then kidnapped him when he tried to bring a complaint against them.
Locals said this is the second consecutive night these attacks have occurred. Last night, settlers tried to cut down trees belonging to Hani Abu Haykal and attacked the home of Yasser Said. Other settlers threw stones at passing cars on a main street in southern Hebron.
Five-year-old Hosni al-Rajibi was injured when he was struck by a settlers car near the Ibrahimi Mosque in central Hebron. The incident was said to have occurred late last night. The settler then took the child to the Kiryat Arba settlement, where he was transferred to Israeli medics and described as being in moderate condition.
Settlers Injure Two Palestinians, Uproot 25 Trees in Violent Reprisals in West Bank
A Palestinian man and his wife were burned on Tuesday when Jewish settlers threw fire bombs into their house south of Nablus, part of a series of violent reprisals believed to be in response to the Israeli evacuation of illegal outposts in the northern West Bank. Near Bethlehem, settlers uprooted 250 olive trees and in Hebron, a settler hit over a five-year-old boy with his car.
The attacks near Nablus happened in the village of Huwwara. Ghassan Douglas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) official in charge of filing settler attacks, told Palestinian state-run news wire Wafa that a number of settlers burned the home of Rabi Taha Tamizi, who was injured along with his wife from burns and smoke inhalation. They were both taken to the Nablus city hospital for treatment.
Douglas also said settlers burned a car belonging to a local Palestinian, unnamed, and closed roads in the region with the help of the Israeli army. According to Israeli news source Ha`aretz, however, the Israeli army stopped settlers from attacking a mosque in the nearby village of Bureen.
The violence is response to the dismantling of an illegal Israeli settlement outpost called Havat Gilad, built on a hilltop near Nablus. Attacks on Palestinians after Israel bulldozes or otherwise counteracts settlement projects is a practice known as price-tagging.
Near Bethlehem, settlers coordinated with Israeli troops to uproot 25 olive trees on Jabal al-Faradis. Local sources said some of the settlers were armed with rifles and came in the middle of the night, accompanied by Israeli soldiers. The land in question was owned by Ahmed Muhammad al-Wahash of Jabal al-Faradis. The settlers uprooted the trees and left with them by dawn.
According to locals, Jabal al-Faradis has been surrounded for several years, with settlers threatening farmers with violence if they come near their crops.
In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, settlers from Ramot Yishai attacked the home of a Palestinian family in Tell al-Rumeida. Eyewitnesses said settlers first pelted the home with stones, then beat Tariq Yunis Abu Aisha, 35, and then kidnapped him when he tried to bring a complaint against them.
Locals said this is the second consecutive night these attacks have occurred. Last night, settlers tried to cut down trees belonging to Hani Abu Haykal and attacked the home of Yasser Said. Other settlers threw stones at passing cars on a main street in southern Hebron.
Five-year-old Hosni al-Rajibi was injured when he was struck by a settlers car near the Ibrahimi Mosque in central Hebron. The incident was said to have occurred late last night. The settler then took the child to the Kiryat Arba settlement, where he was transferred to Israeli medics and described as being in moderate condition.

An Israeli settler knocked down a Palestinian boy with his car on Monday evening, driving away and leaving the child in the street, residents of Hebron's Old City told Ma'an.
The incident occurred outside the Ibrahimi Mosque, also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs, in the area of Hebron under Israeli control.
The boy was evacuated to the Al-Mizan Hospital in Hebron where medics said his wounds were moderate.
Officials with Israel's settlement police force could not be reached by phone for comment on the incident.
On Sunday, outside of the Old City, an Israeli settler ran down an 11-year-old girl near the Beit Ainun, medics reported.
The girl, identified as Amani Al-Mutawer, was walking to school when she was hit. She was transferred to Hadassah hospital in Israel, where her condition was described as moderate.
Israeli rights group lauds decision to dismantle 3 outposts
Israeli human rights group Yesh Din called Israel's decision to dismantle three settlement outposts a "much-overdue and elementary decision," in a statement released Tuesday, hours after the government announced the news.
The government decision also allowed for the legalization under Israeli law of tens of other illegal outposts. Those to be dismantled were determined to be built primarily on privately owned Palestinian lands, while the others are on what Israel considers to be "state lands" in the occupied West Bank.
In its statement, Yesh Din said it welcomed the "unequivocal stance of the Attorney-General, Yehuda Weinstein, about the necessity to dismantle outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian land. Yesh Din expresses hope that this decision will put an end to Defense Minister Ehud Barak's delays in enforcing the law and protecting the private property of the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank."
The group noted that it had assisted Palestinians by filing a dozen petitions to the High Court of Justice, demanding that the State uphold demolition orders issued for buildings erected illegally in settlements and outposts on private Palestinian land. The legal proceedings in these petitions are still ongoing mostly due to the delays and other maneuvers by the Defense Minister, the statement said.
Settlers plan 'Day of Rage' in West Bank
Angry settlers told AFP on Tuesday they were planning a 'Day of Rage' later this week over police action during the demolition of a caravan in a settlement outpost.
Plans were taking shape a day after police and settlers clashed during an early-morning operation to remove a caravan, a tent and the framework for a second structure in the northern outpost of Havat Gilad, some five kilometers southwest of Nablus.
It was not immediately clear what form the protest would take, but media reports suggested it would involve sit-down protests at major junctions across the country, as well as attempts to block Palestinian traffic in the West Bank.
The settlers routinely react when police and soldiers demolish structures in settlements or wildcat settlement outposts -- those which have been set up without government approval -- but what angered them on Monday was police use of stun grenades and paint ball guns.
Stun grenades are normally reserved for Palestinian demonstrations, while recalcitrant settlers tend to be handled with tear gas and truncheons.
Five protesters were injured during the Havat Gilad operation, settler sources said on Monday, prompting a furious reaction which saw hundreds of demonstrators blocking main roads in Jerusalem with burning tires.
They also carried out a series of 'price tag' attacks against Palestinians -- the term for acts of violence against the local population as a direct response to 'anti-settler' activity by the Israeli government.
Overnight, a group of settlers firebombed a house in the village of Huwwara near Nablus, causing two Palestinian children to be taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
They also smashed up a shop in the southern city of Hebron, and later a group of settlers were seen lobbing stones at cars on a road near Beit Haggai settlement close to the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian security sources said.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday condemned the acts of violence and said those behind them were an extreme minority.
"I think that these disturbances are harmful to the rule of law and even to the settlement enterprise in the West Bank, which (these protesters) don't represent," he said during a visit to a military base.
"These are the actions of individuals or small groups, whose behavior is unacceptable," Barak said.
Palestinians in the Nablus area said on Tuesday that there was a large number of Israel forces deployed around several villages in a bid to protect them from being attacked by settlers.
Anti-settlement movement Peace Now says there are more than 100 wildcat outposts strewn across the West Bank, all of which have been set up without permission from Israeli authorities.
Home set ablaze amid Jewish racial riots near Nablus
Hundreds of Jewish rioters continue violent racial attacks against Palestinians near the entrance of the villages of Hawara and Burin southeast of Nablus.
They had set fire to the home of Rabee Taha in Hawara but Palestinian fire crews managed to extinguish it, informed sources reported.
Hundreds of rioters gathered at the entrance of Burin at night and planned to riot and set fire to the Salman al-Farisi Mosque there, a holy site Israeli authorities allege was constructed without permit and have threatened to raze.
The Israeli army has closed off entrances to Palestinian villages to the southeast and west of the West Bank city of Nablus, and has also blocked checkpoints to the west and north as well as the Yitzhar road linking Nablus and Qalqilya.
Meanwhile, riots have turned violent as Jewish settlers led provocative marches near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil. Locals there reported them smashing car windows parked near Palestinian homes and shouting anti-Arab and Islamic racial slurs.
The night before, settlers wreaked havoc in the Tel Rumaida suburb in Al-Khalil's Old City, beating locals and vandalizing shops.
The incident occurred outside the Ibrahimi Mosque, also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs, in the area of Hebron under Israeli control.
The boy was evacuated to the Al-Mizan Hospital in Hebron where medics said his wounds were moderate.
Officials with Israel's settlement police force could not be reached by phone for comment on the incident.
On Sunday, outside of the Old City, an Israeli settler ran down an 11-year-old girl near the Beit Ainun, medics reported.
The girl, identified as Amani Al-Mutawer, was walking to school when she was hit. She was transferred to Hadassah hospital in Israel, where her condition was described as moderate.
Israeli rights group lauds decision to dismantle 3 outposts
Israeli human rights group Yesh Din called Israel's decision to dismantle three settlement outposts a "much-overdue and elementary decision," in a statement released Tuesday, hours after the government announced the news.
The government decision also allowed for the legalization under Israeli law of tens of other illegal outposts. Those to be dismantled were determined to be built primarily on privately owned Palestinian lands, while the others are on what Israel considers to be "state lands" in the occupied West Bank.
In its statement, Yesh Din said it welcomed the "unequivocal stance of the Attorney-General, Yehuda Weinstein, about the necessity to dismantle outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian land. Yesh Din expresses hope that this decision will put an end to Defense Minister Ehud Barak's delays in enforcing the law and protecting the private property of the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank."
The group noted that it had assisted Palestinians by filing a dozen petitions to the High Court of Justice, demanding that the State uphold demolition orders issued for buildings erected illegally in settlements and outposts on private Palestinian land. The legal proceedings in these petitions are still ongoing mostly due to the delays and other maneuvers by the Defense Minister, the statement said.
Settlers plan 'Day of Rage' in West Bank
Angry settlers told AFP on Tuesday they were planning a 'Day of Rage' later this week over police action during the demolition of a caravan in a settlement outpost.
Plans were taking shape a day after police and settlers clashed during an early-morning operation to remove a caravan, a tent and the framework for a second structure in the northern outpost of Havat Gilad, some five kilometers southwest of Nablus.
It was not immediately clear what form the protest would take, but media reports suggested it would involve sit-down protests at major junctions across the country, as well as attempts to block Palestinian traffic in the West Bank.
The settlers routinely react when police and soldiers demolish structures in settlements or wildcat settlement outposts -- those which have been set up without government approval -- but what angered them on Monday was police use of stun grenades and paint ball guns.
Stun grenades are normally reserved for Palestinian demonstrations, while recalcitrant settlers tend to be handled with tear gas and truncheons.
Five protesters were injured during the Havat Gilad operation, settler sources said on Monday, prompting a furious reaction which saw hundreds of demonstrators blocking main roads in Jerusalem with burning tires.
They also carried out a series of 'price tag' attacks against Palestinians -- the term for acts of violence against the local population as a direct response to 'anti-settler' activity by the Israeli government.
Overnight, a group of settlers firebombed a house in the village of Huwwara near Nablus, causing two Palestinian children to be taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
They also smashed up a shop in the southern city of Hebron, and later a group of settlers were seen lobbing stones at cars on a road near Beit Haggai settlement close to the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian security sources said.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday condemned the acts of violence and said those behind them were an extreme minority.
"I think that these disturbances are harmful to the rule of law and even to the settlement enterprise in the West Bank, which (these protesters) don't represent," he said during a visit to a military base.
"These are the actions of individuals or small groups, whose behavior is unacceptable," Barak said.
Palestinians in the Nablus area said on Tuesday that there was a large number of Israel forces deployed around several villages in a bid to protect them from being attacked by settlers.
Anti-settlement movement Peace Now says there are more than 100 wildcat outposts strewn across the West Bank, all of which have been set up without permission from Israeli authorities.
Home set ablaze amid Jewish racial riots near Nablus
Hundreds of Jewish rioters continue violent racial attacks against Palestinians near the entrance of the villages of Hawara and Burin southeast of Nablus.
They had set fire to the home of Rabee Taha in Hawara but Palestinian fire crews managed to extinguish it, informed sources reported.
Hundreds of rioters gathered at the entrance of Burin at night and planned to riot and set fire to the Salman al-Farisi Mosque there, a holy site Israeli authorities allege was constructed without permit and have threatened to raze.
The Israeli army has closed off entrances to Palestinian villages to the southeast and west of the West Bank city of Nablus, and has also blocked checkpoints to the west and north as well as the Yitzhar road linking Nablus and Qalqilya.
Meanwhile, riots have turned violent as Jewish settlers led provocative marches near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil. Locals there reported them smashing car windows parked near Palestinian homes and shouting anti-Arab and Islamic racial slurs.
The night before, settlers wreaked havoc in the Tel Rumaida suburb in Al-Khalil's Old City, beating locals and vandalizing shops.

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) advanced hundreds of meters into Qarara town east of Khan Younis, to the south of the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday and bulldozed farmland.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that IOF troops in eight armored vehicles escorted four military bulldozers while damaging Palestinian land.
The sources said that the IOF soldiers were firing intermittently, but no casualties were so far reported.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, a Jewish settler deliberately ran over 5-year-old Palestinian child Qutaiba Al-Rajabi on Monday in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil.
Local sources said that the settler ran over the child near his family home and sped away without helping the child. Medical sources in hospital said that the child's injuries were moderate.
Palestinian cars damaged in Hebron
The window shields of dozens of Palestinian cars in the Hebron area have been smashed. It is suspected that right-wing activists protesting the razing of structures in Havat Gilad were behind the acts.
Extreme right-wing activist Baruch Marzel told Ynet in response that state and army leaders are pushing the settlers to "a dangerous corner" by ignoring injustice against Jews. "Whoever decided to fire rubber bullets in Samaria started a fire," he said.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that IOF troops in eight armored vehicles escorted four military bulldozers while damaging Palestinian land.
The sources said that the IOF soldiers were firing intermittently, but no casualties were so far reported.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, a Jewish settler deliberately ran over 5-year-old Palestinian child Qutaiba Al-Rajabi on Monday in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil.
Local sources said that the settler ran over the child near his family home and sped away without helping the child. Medical sources in hospital said that the child's injuries were moderate.
Palestinian cars damaged in Hebron
The window shields of dozens of Palestinian cars in the Hebron area have been smashed. It is suspected that right-wing activists protesting the razing of structures in Havat Gilad were behind the acts.
Extreme right-wing activist Baruch Marzel told Ynet in response that state and army leaders are pushing the settlers to "a dangerous corner" by ignoring injustice against Jews. "Whoever decided to fire rubber bullets in Samaria started a fire," he said.