Israeli settlers from Gosh Atzion Settlement to the southwest of Bethlehem tore through the streets of Bethlehem area villages Friday. The settlers were protesting their inability to use more of Palestinian lands for their own streets, as per Israeli forces.
Areas in the south and east of Bethlehem were hit hardest by those settlers, which under international law, are all illegally present in occupied Palestinian lands, however with the full blessing, financial and military compensation of the Israeli government.
All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The settlers are complaining that the route to Jerusalem, which is the slated capital of the future Palestinian state and is off-limits to most Palestinians, now takes them 20 minutes on the eastern rural street.
A 20 minute trip for a Palestinian from one West Bank town to another can take six hours, if they are able to reach their destination at all. The settlers are demanding yet another bypass, or ‘settler only road’ through Palestinian lands to the east.
This settler demonstration began at the Gush Atzion Junction, where Palestinians must go if they want to obtain ‘permission’ from Israeli forces to travel, move through Palestinian villages, including Al Fradi and Idna east of Bethlehem.
However, the settlers did not only walk, close the streets for Palestinians for more than an hour; they threw stones at Palestinian cars, destroying at least four.
Meanwhile, several Israeli settlers attacked Idna Village in order to attack Palestinians and their property, however Israeli forces declared the village a “closed military zone.”
All Palestinians were forced to stay inside their homes, losing yet another day of life, as Israeli settlers wreaked havoc in the streets that Israeli forces eventually cleared.
