BETHLEHEM: Palestinian residents of the village of Kisan to the east of Bethlehem, in the southern occupied West Bank, managed today to foil an Israeli colonists’ attempt to steal equipment, according to a local official.

The head of the Kisan village council, Musa Abiyat, told WAFA that a group of colonists broke into the Kisan wilderness in an attempt to steal agricultural equipment, several barracks and a tank of water; however their attempt was foiled by the locals.

Farmers and livestock keepers in the village of Kisan are subjected to almost daily colonists’ attacks, said the official.

In many cases of attacks, Israeli forces offer protection to the colonists and turn a blind eye to attacks committed against Palestinian locals.

Settlements are illegal under international law as they violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the transfer of the occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory.

Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA