Settlers torch hundreds of Nablus olive trees

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289105

Nablus – Ma'an – Residents of the illegal Yitzhar settlement set fire to more than 100 dunums of Palestinian lands near Urif village, southwest of Nablus on Wednesday afternoon, Palestinian officials said.

Local official in charge of the settlements file in the northern West Bank Ghasan Daghlas said the fire was set in the Jabal Marwes area, the hill separating the villages of URif and Asira Al-Qaliya, into which Yitzhar's "municipal area" extends.

"The settlers had set fire to the area, and it spread across a large swath of agricultural land," Daghlas said.

When Palestinians saw the fire, dozens rushed to put it out, Daghlas continued, but said hundreds of almond and olive trees were destroyed.

"Clashes broke out between the Palestinians and the settlers who had lit the fire," Daghas said, and Israeli forces used tear gas to disperse the fight.

The fields, village official Fawzi Shaehada said, belong to Mohammad Salamh A’mer As-Aafadi from Urif.

An Israeli military official said a fight broke out in a "disputed area" between what she estimated was 50 Palestinians and Yitzhar residents, where "mutual rock throwing" took place. She said Israeli border police dispersed the fight and noted no arrests.