Settler Attack on Palestinian Industrial Zone Causes Millions in Damages
Translated & summarized from Arab48 by baba
Around 200 settlers attacked an industrial zone in Beta, West Bank, on Monday, burning equipment and vehicles and causing an estimated $3 million in damages. Business owners reported the attack was organized and targeted their livelihoods, with one owner vowing to stay despite the violence. The incident is part of a wider increase in settler and military attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Approximately 200 settlers attacked the industrial zone in Beta, West Bank, causing an estimated $3 million in damages.
- The settlers set fire to bulldozers, stone crushers, and vehicles during the organized assault.
- Affected business owners condemned the attack as targeting Palestinian livelihoods and aiming for displacement.
- The incident is part of a significant rise in settler and military attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023.
- Palestinian data indicates over 1,220 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the Gaza conflict began.
Approximately 200 masked settlers attacked the industrial zone in the town of Beta, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on Monday, causing extensive damage and igniting fears among Palestinian business owners. The assault resulted in the burning of bulldozers, stone crushers, and vehicles, with preliminary estimates from the Beta municipality placing the losses at around 10 million shekels (approximately $3 million).
Witnesses described the attack as organized, with settlers reportedly surrounding the industrial zone before assaulting Palestinian workers and setting equipment ablaze. Abdul Rahim Salameh, a business owner whose property was damaged, stated that the settlers, many wearing uniforms, attacked facilities with sticks and some carried weapons. The assault extended to neighboring businesses owned by his relatives and neighbors, marking the second such incident involving arson in the area, alongside repeated acts of vandalism and harassment.
Despite the escalating attacks and restrictions, Salameh expressed his family's determination to remain and continue their work. Omar Dirieh, head of the Stone and Marble Industry Union in Palestine, condemned the attacks as "criminality in plain sight of the world" that targets Palestinians' livelihoods and aims to displace factory owners. He noted that these assaults exacerbate the difficulties faced by business owners already contending with challenging political and economic conditions, including closures, military checkpoints, and high production costs.
The incident occurs amidst a broader surge in attacks by Israeli settlers and the Israeli military against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. These attacks have included killings, arrests, property destruction, and displacement, with Palestinian data indicating over 1,220 Palestinians killed and thousands more injured and arrested in the West Bank since the conflict began.
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