West Bank settlers hurl rocks at Palestinian homes

Ultranationalist Israeli settlers on Thursday surrounded a Palestinian home near a West Bank settlement and hurled rocks through windows to avenge a string of early morning arrests by Israeli police. Residents of the Yitzhar settlement, in the northern West Bank, marched through the neighboring Palestinian village of Hawara in a show of anger over what they said was a police campaign against them. Yitzhar is among the most radical settlements in the West Bank, and its residents have scuffled with Israeli forces several times in recent weeks. Friction is common between the 2.5 million Palestinians and 300,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. Palestinians view the more than 120 settlements that Israel has built across the West Bank as a key obstacle to setting up their own state. Hardline settlers, including residents of Yitzhar, believe they are returning to lands promised to the Jews by God.