An elderly Palestinian man was violently assaulted and injured on Tuesday by a group of armed Israeli settlers in Khirbet Umm Nir, a village situated in the Masafer Yatta region, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

According to local sources, the victim was attacked while tending to his agricultural land, sustaining bruises and injuries to multiple parts of his body. The assault took place in broad daylight, with the settlers reportedly acting under the protection of the Israeli occupation army.

The injured Palestinian was swiftly transferred to a nearby medical center for treatment. Meanwhile, settlers continued their rampage in the area, with witnesses reporting ongoing acts of intimidation and violence aimed at driving Palestinian residents from their lands.

This latest attack is part of a systematic campaign of settler violence targeting Masafer Yatta and surrounding areas. Over recent months, Palestinian communities south of Hebron have suffered repeated settler assaults, including physical beatings, threats, vandalism of homes, vehicles, and farmlands, all carried out with near-total impunity.

Rights groups have long warned that these attacks are not isolated incidents but rather part of a broader Israeli policy aimed at forcible displacement of Palestinians to seize land for illegal settlement expansion.

Despite international condemnation, the Israeli government has continued to support and protect settler outposts across the West Bank, while restricting Palestinian movement and access to basic services in affected areas like Masafer Yatta.

The assault comes amid heightened tensions and increased settler activity across the occupied territories, raising fears of further violence and dispossession for vulnerable Palestinian communities. Local residents and advocacy groups are calling for urgent international intervention to halt settler violence and protect civilians under occupation, in accordance with international law. (ILKHA)