Palestinians torch car of Israeli settlers who entered Ramallah 'by accident'

Palestinians burned a car belonging to Israeli settlers who entered the West Bank city of Ramallah late on Wednesday, local sources told The New Arab.

Dozens of Palestinians surrounded the Israeli car which had arrived in downtown Ramallah's al-Manarah square. Sources confirmed that the Palestinian police arrived shortly after the car was surrounded and evacuated two Israeli settlers. The car was then set on fire by the crowd.

Palestinian security forces handed the two Israelis to the Israeli army at the northern entrance of Ramallah, as confirmed by an Israeli army statement.

Israeli media reported that the two Israeli settlers belong to the Berslov Haridim religious group. The settlers told the Israeli police that they were trying to take a short route to the Hashmonaim settlement, West of Ramallah, and found themselves in the city centre.

An angry crowd of Palestinians set on fire a vehicle owned by two colonial Israeli settlers who entered downtown Ramallah in the West Bank last night.

The settlers were secured out of the city by a Palestinian Authority security force which handed them over to the Israeli army. pic.twitter.com/aVW7jf94c8

— V PALESTINE 🇵🇸 (@V_Palestine20) December 2, 2021

The city of Ramallah is classified as area ‘A’, under the security control of the Palestinian Authority. Although the Israeli army controls all entrances to Ramallah and regularly raids the city, Israeli civilians are prohibited from entering the area by the Israeli army.

Ramallah itself is surrounded by Israeli settlements which have expanded almost to the limits of its urban space, like the settlement of Psagot and the settlement of Beit El, which contains the central command of the Israeli army in the West Bank.

#BREAKING: Israeli settler accidentally drove through Ramallah 🇵🇸, look what happened next. pic.twitter.com/E1jg574cUq

— Royal Intel (@RoyalIntel_) December 1, 2021

Omar Assaf, a member of the municipal council of Ramallah, told The New Arab that “these settlements kill our possibility as a city to develop and grow. We can’t even open new road or a park outside an already-crowded space, because the settlements have taken all the surroundings”.

“Israeli settlements have pierced through our skin pores. It is only logical that settlers feel like they can just drive through our streets as well,” Assaf said.

Here's a picture of the two colonial Israeli settlers who entered downtown Ramallah in the occupied West Bank last night.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/mtAd9gfyMY

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 2, 2021

Israeli settlers often raid neighbourhoods on the outskirts of West Bank cities, in addition to Palestinian towns and villages. According to the UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli settlers have conducted at least 410 attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank so far this year.

Israel began to build settlements in the West Bank following its occupation of the territory in the 1967 war. Israeli settlements are widely viewed as illegal under international law, particularly the 4th Geneva convention.