Israeli settlers attack West Bank village

JERUSALEM, April 14 (UPI) -- An overnight attack on the West Bank village of Huwwara is believed to be the work of Israeli settlers, the Israeli army said Wednesday.

More than 300 olive trees were uprooted, two cars were set afire and a mosque in the town was spray painted with racist slogans, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

Tensions between Palestinian residents of Huwwara and Jewish residents in the nearby Israeli settlements of Yitzhar flared up in recent weeks after two settlers were wounded in a stone-throwing incident.

Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon, commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, called the vandalism to Huwwara "unacceptable" and ordered an immediate investigation, The Jerusalem Post reports.

A spokesman for the right-wing Jewish National Front Party said Huwwara has been the source of "a large number of violent attacks against residents of Yitzhar."

"The time has come for the Arabs to understand that Jews are not suckers and that Jewish blood will not be shed without consequence," said Itamar Ben-Gvir.