Anti-Palestinian 'price tag' attack hits Israel's Abu Ghosh again

A Palestinian town in Israel was attacked on Monday morning for the second time in under a year, with cars torched and a racist message daubed on a wall by suspected Israeli extremists.

Four vehicles were set ablaze in Abu Ghosh, located west of Jerusalem, with anti-Palestinian graffiti sprayed on a wall, The New Arab's Arabic sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

"We woke up at 3am to the sound of the burning of cars in Al-Shurfa neighbourhood on the edge of the village," said town resident Mohammed Issa Abu Ghosh.

"The cars that were burnt belonged to my sister's children."

The town of Abu Ghosh was also targeted in a similar attack by Israeli extremists in November.

Media reports said "price tag" was sprayed on a wall, a name used to refer to retribution attacks radical Israelis carry out against Palestinians.

"Thirty days' administrative [detention] for murder," was also reportedly written on the wall.

Administrative detention is a controversial measure under which Israel holds people without charge for renewable periods of up to six months.

It is almost always used against Palestinians, though last month orders were signed against Israelis who were suspected of West Bank violence.

Israeli police arrived at the scene after the attacks on Abu Ghosh took place and viewed surveillance camera recordings, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

The Times of Israel news website said police are looking into the incident as a hate crime.

A helicopter is being used to look for suspects, according to Israeli police, who said their forces were collecting evidence in the town, the news site reported.

Mohammed Abu Ghosh said the people of the town will organise a mass gathering to protest against "price tag" attacks, with Jewish activists also set to join.

"There are feelings of insecurity in the village," he added.

"The children are scared when they see cars burning. Everyone is at risk of such attacks."

"Price tag" violence occurs both within Israel and in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israelis who carry out attacks on Palestinians are often not arrested, with convictions less common still.

The Abu Ghosh incident follows an increase in attacks by settlers against Palestinians after a shooting that killed four Israelis near the Eli settlement in the West Bank in June.

Settlements are illegal under international law and are viewed as a key barrier to achieving a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel as they carve up more and more Palestinian territory.

Hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers reside in illegal settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.