Monday April 19, 2010 16:24 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies

A group of illegal Israeli settlers attacked on Monday Palestinian cars at the road connecting the central West Bank city of Ramallah with the northern city of Nablus.

Witnesses said that the settlers hurled stones at passing by Palestinian cars and held anti Palestinian banners.

The settlers were gathered at an old military checkpoint known to locals as Wadi Al Harmiya.

In 2002 a Palestinian young man using an old English army rifle killed a number of soldiers and injured nearly twelve others, and some settlers at that location.

The Palestinian sharp-shooter is now serving 5 life term sentences in a military detention camp.

Published yesterday (updated) 19/04/2010 17:25

Ramallah – Ma'an –

Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers accompanied by armed Israeli occupation soldiers blocked the Wadi Al-Haramiya road between Nablus and Ramallah on Monday afternoon, throwing rocks at Palestinian cars, witnesses said.

The zone, on the road north past the Atara checkpoint where road 456 meets Highway 60, and south of the illegal Israeli settlement of Shilo, was the area where 23 Israeli soldiers and settlers were killed during clashes following the outbreak of the Second Indifada. Most of the deaths occurred in 2002.

Hours after the event, an Israeli military spokesman confirmed that a settler group had organized a memorial event for Israel's Day of the Fallen Soldier, celebrated on 19 April for 2010. The spokesman said soldiers did accompany the mourners, but said no unusual activity was reported during the event.

Dozens of travelers stranded on the road complained of at least an hour's wait as the settlers cleared the area, while others said vehicles had been damaged by thrown stones.