Violence surges in West Bank as week comes to a close
Several occurrences were reported of vandalism and violence in or near Arab neighborhoods and villages.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERICars and homes were vandalized in the Arab village of Hizma in the West Bank.(photo credit: AMER ARURI)
Violence spiked in the West Bank in the hours leading into the weekend, with vandalism, rock-throwing and arson.The first case on Thursday left one Palestinian moderately injured after being pelted with stones while driving, according to reports received by Yesh Din, an Israeli organization active throughout the country and in the West Bank in particular.Mohanned Qawarik, 33, a resident of Awarta, was injured in the evening by stones thrown at him on Alon Road near the Israeli settlement of Kokhav Hashachar.Qawarik claimed that the stone was throne from an Israeli car passing in the opposite lane.A few hours after that, on Friday morning, five olive trees were discovered to be damaged in a Palestinian's orchard along the main road leading to his village of Umm Safa, near Ateret and Neve Tsuf.That same morning, citizens of the Arab village Hizma near Jerusalem woke up to find numerous cars and homes vandalized with graffiti.A car among the 22 that were vandalized had a David star painted on the side, while one of the homes had "Jews never keep quiet" sprayed onto its outer wall, B'Tselem reported.Around noon that same day, two people came on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) into the village of Qarawat Bani from the El Matan outpost, setting fire to a barn near the edge of the village.There were no casualties from the fire.
