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NABLUS, October 13, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers Saturday attacked farmers picking their olive trees in the Nablus area village of Qaryout only hours after setting dozens of olive trees in the same village on fire, according to local sources.

They said settlers from nearby Shivot Rachel settlement outpost attacked the farmers who attempted to pick olives from the trees that were spared the arson.

The settlers opened fire in the direction of the farmers who were forced to flee the area leaving behind the tools they used for picking the olives, which the settlers have later seized.

Settlers had earlier in the morning set fire to olive trees on the outskirts of Qaryout by pouring highly flammable material on the olive trees, some of them hundreds of years old, causing serious damage.

Several Israeli organizations have warned against a sharp rise in settler attacks against Palestinian farmers, particularly during the olive harvest season, which is the main source of income for hundreds of Palestinian families.

They warned that government apathy toward the settlers is going to lead to serious consequences.

M.H./M.S.

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Settlers Burn Olive Trees Near Nablus

by by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian media sources reported, Saturday, that a group of extremist Israeli settlers burnt Palestinian Olive trees that belong to residents of Qaryout village, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

The settlers came from a nearby illegal settlement, burnt the trees and returned back before sunrise. They sprayed the trees with flammable liquids before setting them ablaze.

Ghassan Douglas, a Palestinian official in charge of settlements file at the Palestinian Authority in the northern part of the West Bank, said that settler attacks witnesses a sharp escalation since the olive harvest season started in Palestine.

Last week, extremist settlers carried out several attacks against Palestinian villages and orchards south of Nablus, mainly in areas close to the Yitzhar illegal settlement.

On Friday, one Palestinian was injured after a group of extremist Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian family members picking their olive trees in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

The settlers came from Tal Romedia and Beit Hadassah illegal settlement outposts in the city. Resident Wajdi Thabit Abu Aisha, 25, was injured in the leg.

At least three similar attacks have been carried out by the settlers over the past three days in the area. The settlers even picked Palestinian olive trees, and violently assaulted several Palestinian villages.

Settler attacks escalate during olive harvest season as they try to harvest Palestinian olive orchards; these attacks also include cutting, uprooting and even burning Palestinian lands and trees.

The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem) documented five similar attacks carried out in the period between October 7 and October 10. These documented attacks took place in the districts of Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron.