Saturday's clashes in West Bank
Photo: AP
Settlers, Palestinians clash in West Bank
West Bank Jews march towards Palestinian village to protest olive harvest, stone-throwing ensues. Palestinians say settlers drove out farmers, cut down olive trees
Jewish settlers clashed with Palestinians Tuesday morning near the West Bank village of Krayot in the Nablus area. The settlers marched towards the village in protest of the olive harvest that is taking place there.
The settlers and Palestinians pelted each other with stones, but there were no reports of injury. Army and police forces dispatched to the scene broke up the clash and arrested a Palestinian rioter.
The settlers, who reached the village's entrance, consider the olive harvest in the area to be a provocation on the part of Palestinians and left-wing activists, and criticized the IDF for allowing it.
According to the Palestinians, some 50 settlers forcefully drove out farmers who were picking olives near the Shvut Rachel outpost with the IDF's authorization. They claimed soldiers did nothing to stop the settlers, and asked the Rabbis for Human Rights organization to investigate the incident.
Also on Tuesday, Palestinians from the village of Turmus `Ayya claimed that dozens of their olive trees had been cut down.
On Saturday a confrontation broke out between Palestinians protesting the expansion of the Bracha settlement and settlers at the site. During the clash, both sides hurled stones at each other.
Police forces held three settlers for questioning on suspicion of rioting and throwing stones during the clash.
