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Illustrative photo: Members of the Hamayel family stand over Hebrew writing which reads "Death to Arabs" scribbled on a door at their relative's home in 2014 (AFP/ Abbas Momani, File) Published by Maan News
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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli settlers reportedly spray-painted racist anti-Arab graffiti on Palestinian property and torched a Palestinian-owned vehicle overnight between Thursday and Friday in occupied East Jerusalem, according to official palestinian-Authority (PA)-owned Wafa news agency. 

Wafa reported that Israeli settlers raided the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa overnight and spray-painted graffiti in Hebrew saying “Death to the Arabs” and “Price Tag” before setting a vehicle on fire.

Many Palestinian activists and rights groups have accused Israel of fostering a “culture of impunity”for Israelis committing violent acts against Palestinians.

Known as "price tag" attacks, extremist Israeli settlers use violent acts of retribution on Palestinians and their property to demonstrate their opposition to Israeli restrictions on settlements and their outposts in the occupied West Bank.

In March 2017, Israeli NGO Yesh Din revealed that Israeli authorities served indictments in only 8.2 percent of cases of Israeli settlers committing anti-Palestinian crimes in the occupied West Bank in the past three years.

Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law, with recent announcements of settlement expansion provoking condemnation from the international community.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there were a total of 107 reported settler attacks against Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem in 2016.