Israeli settlers damaged houses and cars in a Palestinian village in the West Bank on Tuesday, police and witnesses said, in an apparent show of anger over the Israeli demolition of homes in an unauthorized settler outpost.
Police say settlers are suspected of smashing windows of seven Palestinian cars and throwing a fire bomb at a Palestinian house.
Resident of the village of Hiwwara also said settlers threw petrol bombs into a house, broke the windows of another, and burned several cars in the overnight rampage before moving on to nearby Burin, where Israel Defense Forces soldiers prevented them from attacking a mosque.
"We tried to put off the fire but we could not, because it was huge. The whole front room burned down and part of the sitting room," said Rami Edmeidi, the owner of the home that came under attack.
Police said Tuesday that the incidents appear to be part of a campaign Jewish
extremists call "price tag" - violence against Palestinians following Israeli government action to curb settlements.
On Monday, Israeli forces demolished two homes at the unauthorized West Bank outpost of Havat Gilad, a hilltop settlement built without government permission, sparking fury among settlers in the area.
Eight settlers were arrested Monday during clashes with security forces conducting the demolitions. Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Tuesday that a total of 37 people have been arrested in all in disturbances related to the demolitions at Havat Gilad.
In remarks to legislators from his Likud party on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted he was limiting the scope of construction as a result of international pressure.
But Likud MK Danny Danon said he and other settler supporters in the party intend to rachet up pressure on Netanyahu to boost construction in settlements.
"We are not prepared to accept any discrimination between Jews living in the cities of Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and the rest of the Jews in Israel," Danon told Reuters.
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