Extremist Israeli settlers broke today into Palestinian-owned lands and destroyed crops belonging to Palestinian farmers there in Masafer Yatta region, to the south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.
Rateb Jabour, a local Palestinian activist, told WAFA that extremist Israeli settlers also let their sheep graze on Palestinian-owned crops, destroying large amounts of barley, wheat and olive crops. The crops are owned by the Palestinian families of Jundi, Jabarin, Zuwedin, and Makhamreh.
He said the attacks coincide with the grazing season, and that extremist Israeli settler groups are deliberately targeting Palestinian agriculture in the area at this particular time of the year when local farmers harvest their crops and store them to feed their sheep later during the year. Of note, animal husbandry is the main source of livelihood for the Palestinian Bedouin families of Masafer Yatta.
Yesterday, army-guarded Israeli settlers let their sheep graze on wheat, barley and clover planted on Palestinian-owned lands near the town of Yatta, nearby, causing the owners of the lands to incur financial losses.
Settler violence is commonplace across the occupied West Bank, and is rarely prosecuted by the occupation authorities.
(WAFA)
