Jewish occupiers set fire to Palestinian property

(MENAFN - Arab News) Jewish occupiers on early Sunday set fire to a house and two vehicles in the West Bank village of Ain Abous, southwest of Nablus, in an apparent attempt to avenge a construction freeze in Jewish settlements.

The Israeli Army Radio quoted security sources as saying that the act was carried out as part of the occupiers' "price tag" policy following the Israeli government decision to freeze constriction in settlements for 10 months.

Palestinian security sources in Nablus told Arab News that the house and properties belonged to Nadir Hashim Mofdi and Fayiz Mohammed Allan.

The occupiers also set fire to 50 olive trees in the village of Um Salamoneh, southeast of Bethlehem, Palestinian sources said.

The incidents came shortly before Israeli police on Sunday forcibly evacuated about 100 occupiers who had blocked roads near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, west of Nablus, in a bid to prevent Israeli inspectors from handing out orders to implement a construction freeze.

The occupiers included local settlers, girls from a religious high school, regional council leaders, and the settlement's rabbi. The Army Radio added the Kedumim occupiers pelted the inspectors' cars with eggs, after the officials distributed construction-halt edicts in the northern West Bank settlement. On Saturday, settlers' leaders and Israeli Knesset members convened an emergency meeting in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, northeast of Ramallah, to discuss tactics to thwart the moratorium.

Trying to calm the concerns of Israeli hard-liners, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his stance that the freeze is a "one-time, temporary decision" and that construction will resume afterward. "We made it clear that upon the conclusion of the period of suspension, construction will resume," Netanyahu said.

The Palestinians say the Israeli move is not genuine, since it does not include East Jerusalem or 3,000 homes already under construction in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak sent former Minister Saleh Tarif to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week with a message urging him to restart peace negotiations with Israel.

The daily Yediot Ahronot said that the move was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Abbas' response to the message relayed is still unclear, the report said.

Mohammed Mar'i