Masked Israeli Settlers Filmed Destroying Palestinian Olive Trees

Soldiers eventually intervened, but no arrests were made in what Palestinians claim is the latest incident of settler violence since this week's deadly terror attack that claimed a rabbi's life

Israeli settlers destroyed on Saturday dozens of Palestinian-owned olive trees in the West Bank, Palestinians said. According to Palestinians from the Hawara region, masked settlers from the settlement of Yitzhar arrived at the area and started targeting the old trees.

In a video taken by Palestinians at the scene, a group of masked men can be seen breaking tree trunks and branches.

The video, filmed with from a distance of hundreds of meters, also shows a group of soldiers standing by and witnessing the incident. At a later stage, after the trees have already been damaged, the soldiers intervene.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that "30 masked settlers went to Hawara this afternoon." The army said that a few trees were damaged and that forces stepped in to disperse them. No arrests were made, though forces were at the scene and, as noted, intervened.

Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter Email* Since the shooting attack earlier this week in which Palestinian terrorists killed Rabbi Raziel Shevach from the illegal outpost Havat Gilad, at least eight similar incidents took place. In one instance, following the funeral for the slain rabbi, settlers descended on the Palestinian town of Praata. The group reportedly broke locals' windows. None were arrested in the incident.

He polled over 130,000 conservatives and liberals on moral issues and found that while conservatives rely on all six foundations equally in making moral judgments, liberals favor care, liberty, and fairness, and were often indifferent to concerns of sanctity, loyalty, and authority. Libertarians, relying primarily on the liberty foundation, had the smallest moral domain of all, which probably explains a great deal - certainly Ayn Rand.

© APAfrican migrants protest about the deportation plans in Rabin Square, Tel Aviv

[...] About 60,000 migrants, nearly all from Eritrea and Sudan, crossed Israel's border with Egypt before the government erected a fence along the desert frontier. Many were fleeing persecution and violence.

Roughly 20,000 have already been expelled, according to the Israeli government. But some have lived for years in Israel and many work in low-paying jobs that many Israelis shun. The country has granted asylum to fewer than one per cent of those who have applied and has a years-long backlog of applicants. [...]

Groups of pilots, doctors, writers, rabbis and Holocaust survivors have condemned the mass deportations and called on the government to halt the plan. They say the deportations are unethical and would damage Israel's image as a refuge for persecuted Jews.

A group of Israeli rabbis launched an "Anne Frank-inspired" activist programme to protect African asylum-seekers facing forced expulsion.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the migrants "illegal infiltrators" and claimed their presence was a threat to Israel's social fabric and Jewish character. One government minister has referred to the migrants as "a cancer".

"We have expelled about 20,000 and now the mission is to get the rest out," Mr Netanyahu said.