LONDON: Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank vandalized and destroyed several gravestones in the Palestinian villages of Kisan and Rashaydeh, east of Bethlehem, on Tuesday.
Some of the gravestones date back to people who died during the British Mandate for Palestine, which spanned between 1920 and 1948, while others belong to individuals killed by Israeli forces, according to Wafa news agency.
Settlers attempted to prevent the residents of Rashaydeh from burying a child in the Kisan and Rashaydeh cemetery early on Tuesday before vandalizing several gravestones, according to Wafa.
The cemetery, shared by both villages, is located about 3 km away and contains over 2,000 graves, three water wells, and a designated prayer area.
All settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law. Excluding East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967, about 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, alongside about 3 million Palestinians.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued a confidential arrest warrant for Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister and prominent settler leader, on suspicion of forced displacement of Palestinians as a crime against humanity.
