Bethlehem/PNN/
Amid the ongoing war waged by Israel against both the Palestinian and Lebanese people, and while the world’s attention is focused on this brutal conflict, extremist settlers continue their relentless attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. These attacks reveal the true nature of these extremists.
In addition to the violent assaults on unarmed Palestinian civilians, which include shooting at cars, homes, and farmers, as well as setting vehicles and houses on fire, settlers engage in acts of wanton vandalism. These actions reflect the deeply ingrained hatred and racist upbringing that drive them to violate Palestinians' human rights.
The latest chapter in these Israeli settler crimes, backed by right-wing government ministers like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, occurs with either the silence or active support of the Israeli police and military. Settlers have now escalated to stealing Palestinian property, including livestock. In one incident in the village of al-Tuwani, south of Yatta, settlers stole donkeys used by Palestinian farmers.
One Palestinian man captured footage of three settlers from the Ma’on settlement stealing four donkeys and taking them to the nearby illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on, built on land in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.
In his video, the Palestinian man can be heard narrating the theft, explaining how the settlers untied the donkeys that were tethered on his land and led them away. This act of theft is just another example of the lawlessness and aggression displayed by Israeli settlers.
The theft of donkeys in the South Hebron Hills yesterday was not an isolated incident. Elsewhere, settlers forced Palestinian farmers off their land as they harvested olives in the village of al-Lubban al-Gharbi, northwest of Ramallah.
Villagers reported that a group of settlers, under the protection of the Israeli army, attacked farmers and olive pickers in the "Buraish" area, forcing them to abandon their land and the olives they had harvested. The settlers then proceeded to steal the olives, loading them into their vehicles—an act of theft that has been repeated numerous times before.
In Jerusalem, just four days ago, and under the protection of Israeli security forces, settlers were documented stealing olives from Palestinian lands in the Wadi al-Rababa neighborhood.
In recent weeks and months, there have been dozens of documented cases of settler theft targeting Palestinian property, particularly livestock. In one of the most recent incidents, settlers stole around 200 sheep from the Ras al-Auja Bedouin community, north of Jericho.
Hassan Mleihat, the general coordinator of the "Al-Baydar" organization for the defense of Bedouin rights, said that extremist settlers from nearby illegal outposts stole a flock of sheep belonging to a Palestinian resident, Ouda Ammarin Kaabneh.
These thefts, which go unpunished and are often supported by the Israeli authorities, have become a method of intimidation aimed at driving Palestinians from their land. The systematic stealing of property is just one part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinians from their homes and agricultural lands.
