Israeli settlers vandalise Palestinian car repair shop, steal equipment

Israeli settlers targeted a privately-owned Palestinian car repair shop this morning near the village of Umm Safa, located northwest of Ramallah, vandalising the premises and stealing its contents.

According to Marwan Sabah, head of the Umm Safa Village Council, the Israeli settlers broke into the garage, situated on the village’s western outskirts, by smashing one of its windows. Once inside, they destroyed the shop’s interior and stole all the equipment.

Sabah added that this was not the first attack on the property. Last month, settlers set fire to the same garage, resulting in the complete destruction of three vehicles.

Moreover, Sabah highlighted that settlers have recently taken over hundreds of dunams in the southern area of Umm Safa, destroying dozens of olive trees in the same area in order to turn it into a pastoral and agricultural outpost.

He warned of an Israeli plan to expel the Umm Safa villagers from the area in order to build an illegal large settlement bloc and then connect it with neighbouring illegal settlements.

The entrances of Umm Safa village have been blocked by the Israeli occupation army since the genocidal war on Gaza started in October 2023.

READ: Israel to use Absentee Property Law to approve 1,900 settlement units in Jerusalem