Palestinians’ cars vandalized in West Bank amid rising Jewish extremist violence

A number of a vehicles were vandalized in the northern West Bank village of Qira overnight, police said Sunday morning, amid rising attacks by Jewish extremists.

The vehicles were spray-painted with Stars of David as well as slogans calling for an end to administrative orders, under which suspects can be barred from certain areas or detained without charge. The tires on a number of cars were slashed.

Police said security forces would go to the scene to collect any evidence.

Anti-Arab vandalism by Jewish extremists is a common occurrence in the West Bank.

Incidents of vandalism against Palestinians and Israeli security forces are commonly referred to as “price tag” attacks, with perpetrators claiming that they are retaliation for Palestinian violence or government policies seen as hostile to the settler movement.

However, arrests of perpetrators are exceedingly rare and rights groups lament that convictions are even more unusual, with the majority of charges in such cases being dropped.

A car vandalized in the West Bank Palestinian village of Qira, January 23, 2022 (Israel Police)

Israeli security officials have warned that violence by Jewish extremists in the West Bank has spiked in recent months. Shin Bet officials told The Times of Israel in late December that Jewish extremist violence had increased by 50 percent over the past year.

The vandalism in Qira came days after Jewish extremists attacked Palestinians and left-wing Israeli activists in the West Bank village of Burin with clubs and stones, wounding at least six and burning a car.

Internal Security Minister Omer Barlev said Sunday in response to the Burin attack that the violence was the “organized action of a terror group.”