West Bank olive grove (Archive photo)
Photo: AFP
Clashes over large West Bank fire
Settlers, Palestinians accuse each other of torching fields near Nablus, dozens of acres consumed
Dozens of acres of agricultural fields caught flame Wednesday in two huge fires that raged throughout the morning on the outskirts of Nablus. Settlers and Palestinians living in the area immediately accused each other of igniting the flames.
Border Guard officials familiar with the incident told Ynet that forces had been in contact with Palestinian residents who feared the fires would consume their homes.
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Police have detained a number of Palestinians for questioning and removed them from the area in flames in an attempt to prevent clashes with settlers, who claim the fire near the Havat Gilad outpost was set by Palestinian neighbors trying to provoke them.
Palestinian sources report that around 40 acres of olive and almond groves have burned down.
Fawzi Shehadeh, mayor of Urif Village near Nablus, claims Israeli rescue forces did not help Palestinian residents to put out the fire when it began to consume their land.
He said he believed it was a rightist conspiracy, because only when the flames neared Jewish settlements did the rescue forces begin to assist in its extinguishing.
But settlers of Yitzhar said they had witnessed Palestinians from a nearby village torching a vineyard belonging to one of their residents.
Reports from the area say more than 150 vines went up in flames, and that agricultural equipment was also damaged. The owner of the land, Akiva Hacohen, has not been residing there for the past eight months due to a restraining order, which was handed to him based on fears that he would interfere with his Palestinian neighbors' olive harvest.
Settlers say two soldiers accompanied them to the fire in order to try to extinguish it, but that immediately upon arrival they were pelted with stones by Palestinians.
The soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the riot, and the settlers began also to throw stones. They said a few Palestinians were arrested and immediately released.
"This fire is a deliberate provocation which repeats itself every year," said a settler from Yitzhar. "Immediately upon finishing the harvest in the nearby fields the Arabs light a fire on the lands of their Jewish neighbors."
He added that a short while before the fires broke out many Palestinians could be seen watching with cameras from the rooftops, in order to "take provocative pictures" of the settlers.
Shmulik Grossman contributed to this report
