Israeli settlers carried out a violent pre-dawn attack on Friday in the town of Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah, assaulting Palestinian workers and stealing dozens of livestock in the latest incident in a sustained campaign of settler violence across the occupied West Bank.

According to local sources, a group of settlers stormed the Khillet al-Louz area east of Deir Dibwan and targeted a sheep farm owned by Palestinian citizen Hassan Mohammad Dawoud Ghannam. During the raid, settlers brutally assaulted two farm workers, leaving them injured, before stealing approximately 150 sheep from the property.

The attack occurred in the early morning hours, when the area was devoid of any form of protection for Palestinian residents. In addition to the physical injuries sustained by the workers, the farm suffered severe economic losses as a result of the livestock theft.

Residents of Deir Dibwan say the assault is part of a broader pattern of escalating settler violence aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians and expanding illegal settlements in the area. The town, located within the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, has repeatedly been targeted in recent months by settlers who have burned homes and vehicles, bulldozed agricultural land, and attacked civilian property under the protection or inaction of Israeli forces.

Documented data shows that violence in the occupied West Bank has intensified sharply. In November alone, Israeli forces and settlers carried out approximately 2,144 attacks against Palestinians and their property. Of these incidents, 1,523 attacks were directly perpetrated by Israeli soldiers, while 621 attacks were carried out by settlers.

Palestinian rights groups warn that such attacks form part of a systematic policy of land seizure and population displacement, carried out through coordinated military and settler actions, amid the absence of accountability and international protection for Palestinian civilians. (ILKHA)