Bat Ayin settlers say Palestinians torched their barn

Police are investigating a suspected arson at the Bat Ayin settlement in Gush Etzion after settlers filed a complaint saying Palestinians had set fire to a barn.

"We could have woken up this morning, god forbid, to the funerals of two families," Bat Ayin resident Menashe Levinger told Ynet on Monday.

According to Levinger, a 14-year-old boy living in a nearby caravan awoke at 3:00 am and spotted the flames consuming the barn. He alerted his parents, who were able to call firefighters to the scene before the fire could reach the two wooden caravans sitting adjacent to the barn.

"We will not remain silent while Arabs try to murder us," Bat Ayin residents said. The police have confirmed an investigation has been launched into the alleged arson, though no suspects have been arrested thus far.

For several months now the area encompassing Bat Ayin and the neighboring Palestinian village of Hirbat Safa has been teeming with violence. The recent tensions were sparked in April when a Palestinian terrorist armed with an axe infiltrated the settlement and murdered 14-year-old Shlomo Nativ.

Since then both sides complain frequently of harassment and violence. Security forces have been forced to wade in on several occasions to disperse the clashes. Left-wing Israeli activists and foreign nationals there to help the Palestinians reach their fields near the settlement are often involved in the clashes.

Parts of the region have been declared a closed military zone, but the decree is often violated. Last week 26 left-wing activists were arrested and two others were wounded when they entered a closed zone while trying to reach the Palestinian fields.