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Israeli settlers vandalized a Palestinian vehicle in a suspected “price tag” attack in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to a local Palestinian official.
“Settlers attacked the car in the village of Urif, south of Nablus, and sprayed racist slogans on it,” Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official responsible for tracking Israeli settlement activity in the area, told Anadolu Agency.
He said settlers have recently stepped up their attacks as Palestinian farmers began to harvest their olive crops.
"Price tag" vandalism is a strategy used by extremist Jewish settlers to attack Palestinians and their property in retaliation for perceived threats to Israeli settlement expansion.
According to Palestinian figures, more than 700,000 Jewish settlers now live on 196 settlements (built with the Israeli government’s approval) and more than 200 settler outposts (built without its approval) across the occupied West Bank.
International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity on the land to be illegal.
A religious Jewish candidate won election as mayor of Jerusalem on Wednesday in a run-off against a secular contender for a post that shapes Israel's rule over the holy city at the heart of its conflict with the Palestinians.Moshe Lion, a skullcap-wearing bureaucrat favored by two key members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightist cabinet, defeated Ofer Berkovitch, the 35-year-old deputy mayor, after neither took enough votes in a five-man contest two weeks ago to win outright.Nearly final results after Tuesday's run-off gave Lion close to 52 percent of the vote.Israel reportedly restricting tourist visas for TurksThe ballot was held as part of nationwide Israeli municipal elections in which many candidates run as independents or on non-traditional party lists, making it difficult to gauge any broader political impact from the results.While Netanyahu’s own approval ratings are strong, a senior member of his party and cabinet who ran for Jerusalem mayor with his blessing, Zeev Elkin, came in third in the first round of the poll.Conspiracies plotted against Palestinian cause: AbbasThe Jerusalem vote was largely boycotted by Palestinians who make up a third of the city’s population. They live in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move that has not won international recognition.Many Jerusalem Palestinians complain of entrenched neglect by the Israeli municipality. A Palestinian candidate who bucked the boycott by running for the administrative Jerusalem City Council failed to garner enough votes to get in. Both Lion and Berkovitch had vowed to appeal to all sectors of the city, 21 percent of its Jewish population is secular and another 43 percent are religiously traditional and 36 percent are ultra-Orthodox. Jewish settlers damage Palestinian property in West BankJewish settlers converge on J'lem's Aqsa Mosque complex
Jewish religious candidate elected Jerusalem's mayor
An Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has finally been reached following weeks of intense shuttle diplomacy by Egyptian officials, Gaza-based resistance factions announced Tuesday evening.“Egyptian efforts have succeeded in hammering out a ceasefire between the resistance and the enemy [i.e., Israel],” the factions declared in a joint statement.“The resistance will commit to the terms of the agreement as long as Israel does the same,” the statement read.The Israeli cabinet, for its part, has instructed the army to continue military operations in Gaza “as necessary”, according to an official statement.Video: Israeli jets destroy HQ of Hamas-run TV stationThe announcements come following two days of military escalations between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions. Since Sunday, at least 14 Palestinians have been martyred -- by Israeli airstrikes and artillery -- across the blockaded Gaza Strip.On Sunday night, seven Palestinians were martyred, including a senior Hamas commander, in a botched Israeli ground incursion inside the Gaza Strip.Hamas: We taught Israel a ‘serious lesson’At least one Israeli officer was reportedly killed and another injured during the deadly raid. The Israeli army claims the attacks are in response to rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel.Since March 30, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire -- and thousands more injured -- while taking part in ongoing rallies along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.
Gaza resistance factions announce ceasefire with Israel
Hamas organization spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Tuesday the resistance in Palestine gave something serious for Israel to think about."We taught Israel a serious lesson. This is a message to Israel,” said Abu Zuhri. “The attitude of the resistance groups will be determined according to the behavior of Israel.”He comments were delivered in a speech in Algeria during a solidarity demonstration with Gaza held by the Movement of Society for Peace, the largest party with Islamic affiliation in the north African country.Following increasing escalation in the region, Palestinian resistance groups Tuesday announced a truce with Israel under Egypt's mediation.Palestinian gov’t freezes social security lawAfter Israeli attacks on Gaza on Monday, seven Palestinians were killed and 25 others wounded. Rockets fired by the Palestinian groups in Gaza killed an Israeli officer and injured 50 others.A group of soldiers from the special forces affiliated with the Israeli army on Sunday infiltrated Gaza by a civilian vehicle.Israeli troops were noticed by the forces affiliated with Hamas after entering 3 kilometers (2 miles) into Gaza, triggering the armed conflict that resulted in the martyrdom of the Palestinians and the death of the Israeli soldier.The hext day, the Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, carried out rocket strikes, severely wounding an Israeli soldier.Hamas says holding contacts to halt Israeli attacksThe Palestinian groups announced the attack, which hit a bus in Israel, was a retaliation to avenge a lost member who embraced martyrdom Sunday.Following the incident, Israel commenced airstrikes on Gaza and Palestinian groups responded with rockets.Since March 30, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire -- and thousands more injured -- while taking part in rallies along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.Gaza groups warn Israel over attacks on civilian homesIsrael dispatches tanks to Gaza border as tensions rise
Hamas: We taught Israel a ‘serious lesson’