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NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers vandalized several Palestinian-owned vehicles, on Wednesday, in the Qaryut village south of the northern West Bank district of Nablus.

Ghassan Daghlas, an official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, said that Israeli settlers broke into Qaryut, and punctured tires of several vehicles.

Israeli settlers also sprayed racist anti-Arab graffiti in the area before leaving it.

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

Better 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.

Daghlas added that Israeli settlers have intensified their raids into Palestinian villages in the area and increased assaults, particularly towards Palestinian farmers harvesting their olive crops.

For hundreds of Palestinian families, olive trees are the main source of income, however when harvest season approaches, Israeli settlers target Palestinian lands and cause severe economic damages.

Palestinian towns and villages in the Nablus area are surrounded by Israeli settlements and outposts, many of which are protected by the Israeli military and have gained notoriety for being comprised of the most extremist settlers.

The Palestinian government has no jurisdiction over Israelis in the West Bank, and violent acts carried out by Israeli settlers often occur in the presence of Israeli military forces who rarely act to protect Palestinian residents.