Palestinians’ tires slashed in tense Jerusalem neighborhood

By MAHMOUD ILEAN and JACK JEFFERY
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Vandals have slashed the tires on nearly a dozen Palestinian-owned vehicles overnight in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood. Jewish settlers have been waging a decades-long legal battle to evict Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah. CCTV footage shows three hooded men entering a fenced-off area before stabbing the tires of parked cars. It’s unclear who was responsible, but recent weeks have seen an escalation in settler violence toward Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Protests and clashes over the threatened evictions in Sheikh Jarrah helped spark the 11-day Gaza war in May. In a separate development, Israel returned the bodies of two Palestinians who were killed while allegedly carrying out attacks.