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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Jewish settlers on Sunday hung posters displaying anti-Arab slogans on the main road between Hebron and Jerusalem, local officials said.

The mayor of al-Khader, near Bethlehem, Ramzi Salah told Ma'an that some of the slogans read: "This is the land of our fathers and grandfathers," and "This is the land of Israel."

The posters were displayed near settlements along route 60 between Hebron and Jerusalem, as well as near the village of Jaba and in the East Jerusalem towns of Eizariya and Abu Dis, Salah added.

Member of the local anti-wall committee in al-Khader Ahmad Salah told Ma'an that some of the posters along route 60 read "We will slaughter Arabs." Posters were also displayed on the fence surrounding Efrat settlement south of Bethlehem, he added.

In a separate incident, settlers in Hebron attempted to raid Palestinian neighborhoods on Sunday evening. Local sources told Ma'an that armed settlers tried to attack Palestinian residents near Kiryat Arba but Israeli forces intervened to prevent the attack.

There has been a surge in settler attacks against Palestinians over the last month.

On Sunday, dozens of Israeli settlers uprooted over 400 Palestinian-owned olive trees near Nablus in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian Authority official said.

On Friday, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man, Issam Kamal Odeh, 33, during clashes sparked by settlers who entered Qusra, near Nablus.

In September, settlers in Nablus have vandalized two mosques and an Israeli army base, uprooted olive trees and set fire to cars.

Some 500,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. There are about 2.5 million Palestinians in the same territory.

All settlements are considered illegal under international law.

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