SETTLERS STORM PALESTINIAN HOUSING SITE NEAR BETHLEHEM

Photo: Ma'an News Agency — **A group of Israeli settlers on Tuesday broke into a private Palestinian housing site in Khalayil al-Lawz near Bethlehem.** (Photo: Ma’an)

Bethlehem, 14 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/4 February 2015 (MINA) – A group of extremist Israeli settlers on Tuesday broke into a private Palestinian housing site in Khalayil al-Lawz near Bethlehem, witnesses said.

Locals told Ma’an that settlers from the illegal settlement of Efrat and nearby outposts stormed the housing project, raised Israeli flags, and held signs written in Hebrew, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Israeli soldiers accompanied the settlers, witnesses added.

The housing site, near the village of Abu Nujeim south of Bethlehem, consists of dozens of duplex houses which were built several years ago by the union of Bethlehem University alumni.

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After completing the concrete frames of the buildings, the project was abandoned, seemingly for lack of funds.

There are over 500,000 Israeli settlers living in settlements across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)