Palestinian Official: Israeli Settlers Torch Palestinian Olive Groves

By VOA News 20 July 2009

A Palestinian official says Israeli settlers stoned cars and set fire to Palestinian-owned olive trees in the West Bank Monday.

Israeli forces clash with Jewish settlers throwing stones at Palestinian motorists outside the West Bank city of Nablus, 20 July 2009

Official Ghassan Daglas said two Palestinians were lightly injured as the rampaging settlers torched fields and hurled rocks in the northern city of Nablus. He said some of the settlers were on horseback, leaving fires blazing in their wake.

Reports of the crowd size vary, with between 10 and 30 settlers taking part in the unrest.

An Israeli border guard spokesman said one settler was arrested.

The settlers were apparently retaliating because the army removed a settler's caravan from an unauthorized settlement outpost in the area earlier in the day.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.