Israeli settlers slash dozens of Palestinian cars, spray racist graffiti in occupied West Bank

The settlers damaged 22 cars by slashing their tyres and spray-painting them in the village of Hizma, north of East Jerusalem, according to Haaretz.

They also graffiti painted a wall in Hebrew with "Jews do not stay silent".

Hours before, on Thursday, residents of Kablan, a West Bank village near Nablus, reported that racist slogans in Hebrew were spray-painted and at least one car was defaced.

Vandalism is a popular tactic amongst Israeli settlers to intimidate the native Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank.

Half-a-century of illegal occupation

Israel has occupied the West Bank illegally since 1967, committing various abuses against Palestinian civilians.

More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.

The Oslo agreement of 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three: Area A, Area B and Area C.

Area A is under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Area B's administration is controlled by the Palestinian Authority, with Israel controlling security. Area C is under full administrative and security control of Israel.

Along with stealing land, Israeli soldiers and settlers routinely harass Palestinians in the occupied territories in various ways.

Israeli forces and settlers routinely harass Palestinians in the occupied territories through harming and killing civilians, demolishing homes, poisoning livestock, vandalising property and other forms of violence.

Israel often forces Palestinians to demolish their own homes under the pretext of not having a building permits.

Applications for building permits often take years to be processed, giving Israeli courts a loophole to increase Palestinian home demolitions by branding structures as "illegal".

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