Settlers uproot Palestinian olive grove

Settlers on Thursday uprooted 117 olive trees in the Palestinian village of Jayyus, adjacent to the Zufin settlement near Qalqilyah.

Villagers said dozens of settlers, some of them armed, entered the olive grove owned by village resident Mohammed Salim at 8 A.M. and started destroying it with a bulldozer.

The villagers called on the security forces for help, but police and troops only arrived in the afternoon. The settlers had by then destroyed trees.

Attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank have continued during the course of the olive harvest.

Settlers in the northern West Bank have also stolen olives from Palestinian villagers on a number of occasions.