RAMALLAH

Israeli settlers set fire to hundreds of olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank, a local activist said Sunday.

Fouad Al-Amor, a member of the Committee for the Protection of Palestinian Villages, an NGO, said the settlers threw “suspicious objects” onto land near the Khallet Ad-Dabi’ area to the east of Hebron's Yatta town which caused a fire to break out.

"Nearly 400 olive trees were burnt and damaged, including around 250 trees over 15 years old," he told Anadolu Agency.

Al-Amor went on to note that the settlers attacked a Palestinian home and destroyed a water supply network in the same area.

Israeli and Palestinian estimates indicate that there are about 650,000 settlers illegally living in 164 settlements constructed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg