Israeli settlers vandalize Palestinian cars in West Bank

In yet another act of provocation by Israeli settlers, a group of extremist Jews has vandalized a number of Palestinian-owned vehicles across the occupied West Bank.

Palestine's official Wafa news agency reported on Friday that Israeli settlers, under military protection, gathered near a village in the west of the city of Ramallah, intercepting and hurling stones at Palestinian commuters, doing damage to their cars.

The agency said more than 20 settlers attacked a vehicle traveling on the Nablus-Ramallah Road, close to the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah.

In Nablus district, settlers attacked vehicles near the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar, south of Nablus, smashing the windshields of several vehicles.

Similar attacks by Israeli settlers were confirmed near the entrance to the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.

Acts of sabotage and settler violence against the Palestinians and their property are commonplace throughout the occupied territories, particularly in the West Bank. However, Israeli authorities rarely prosecute the settlers and the majority of the files are closed due to deliberate police failure to investigate properly.

The UN Security Council condemns Israel’s settlement expansion in the occupied territories.

The Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East al-Quds as its capital.

EU: Israel must take measures to protect Palestinians against settler violence

EU has called on the occupying Israeli regime to take necessary measures to protect Palestinians and their property.

Israeli forces target Palestinians in West Bank, injure five

In another development on Friday, Israeli forces targeted and injured at least five Palestinians in several areas of the West Bank.

The Wafa news agency, citing local sources, said a military force accompanying a group of Israeli settlers fired live bullets at two young Palestinians near the entrance to the village of Turmus'ayya, north of Ramallah. The pair was injured before being taken into custody.

Israeli forces also shot and injured three youths with live rounds in the course of confrontations in western Tulkarm.

Israeli navy targets Gaza fishermen, confiscates two boats

Also on Friday, Israeli naval forces targeted Palestinian fishermen sailing offshore the city of Rafah in the southern besieged Gaza Strip and confiscated two boats.

“The fishermen were sailing within three nautical miles offshore the city when Israeli naval boats opened heavy gunfire and water hoses toward them, held a boat with four fishermen aboard and transferred them to the nearby Ashdod Port before ultimately releasing them and confiscating two boats,” Wafa reported.

The Israeli navy also opened water hoses toward fishermen offshore the As-Sudaniya area, northwest of Gaza, attempting to sink their boats and ultimately forcing them to leave the area.

Israel regularly shoots and detains Gazan fishermen over allegations of crossing the “designated fishing zone,” which is practically three nautical miles.

Under a ceasefire agreement reached between Israelis and Palestinians following the deadly Israeli war in August 2014, Tel Aviv agreed to immediately expand the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast, allowing Palestinian fishermen to sail as far as six nautical miles off the shore. The agreement also stipulated that Israel would expand the area gradually up to 12 miles.

Currently there are some 4,000 fishermen in the blockaded coastal land and only hundreds of them fish regularly as they fear being shot or arrested by Israeli naval forces.

The fishing sector has traditionally been the sole source of income for thousands of families across the impoverished coastal region. Some 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza make a living directly or indirectly from fishing but Israeli attacks have made it nearly impossible for most fishermen to make ends meet.

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