Israeli Settlers Prevent Farm Access, Vandalize Cars

IMEMC, January 21, 2014 – Israeli forces and settlers, on Tuesday, prevented two Palestinian farmers from Husan, west of Bethlehem, from accessing their farmland located in the middle of the illegal settlement of Bitar Illit, said a local official.

Member of Husan local council, Muhammad Shusha, said the two farmers wanted to plant olive seedlings in their land when soldiers and settlers prevented them from entering it, the Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA) has reported.

Shusha said that Israeli forces first told the famers that they must get an army permit to enter their land but, then, told them they could enter but without the seedlings.

He added that soldiers attacked Mahmoud Ellayan, a photojournalist with al-Quds newspaper, when he tried to take pictures of the incident.

In related news, WAFA reports that Israeli settlers vandalized, on Tuesday, eight Palestinian-owned cars in the town of Qabalan, south of Nablus, according to a local activist.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activities north of the West Bank, said that settlers attacked the outskirts of the town, smashing the windows of eight cars and slashing their tires.

Settlers also sprayed racist graffiti on the walls of several Palestinian homes, he said.