Dozens of Jewish settlers on Monday swarmed the Palestinian archeological site of Sebastia town northwest of Nablus under military protection.
Mayor of Sebastia Mohamed Azem said that an Israeli military force stormed the town cordoned off the archeological area and prevented local residents from approaching it before about 100 settlers entered the area and performed rituals at the site.
Azem noted that skirmishes took place between school students from the town and Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse them.
He told Quds Press that the Israeli occupation regime persistently targets the archeological site of Sebastia and refuses to allow the Palestinian side to carry out renovations and repairs to the place at the pretext that it is located in an Israeli-controlled area.
