BETHLEHEM (AFP) – More than 100 olive and fig trees on farmland near Bethlehem were set alight on Tuesday in an attack that local witnesses blamed on Jewish settlers.The incident occurred in Nahhalin village, which lies between the southern West Bank town of Bethlehem and the Beitar Illit settlement.

Osama Shakarna, head of the Nahhalin village council, told AFP more than 100 olive and fig trees had been destroyed in a fire on the northwest side of the village, which faces Beitar Illit, in a blaze he blamed on local settlers.

“Two settlers from Beitar Illit burned lands in Al Matabekh area, northwest of the village,” he said, adding that an army jeep was present at the time.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the incident, which came a day after the official start of the olive harvest, a time which is often fraught with tensions between Jewish settlers and Palestinian olive farmers.

A senior Israeli military commander in the West Bank said his forces had trained for the harvest season in a bid to prevent attacks that could spark violence.

“We are doing everything to make sure that extremists from our side don’t contribute to escalation,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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