DaysofPal—Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian shepherd, causing him severe injuries, and stole hundreds of sheep on Thursday after the Israeli settlers launched a violent attack near the village of Kafr Malek, northeast of Ramallah.
Palestinian locals said that a group of Israeli settlers assaulted shepherds in the eastern outskirts of the village, seizing around 300 sheep belonging to Khaled Ghneimat and Mustafa Rabie.
During the attack, Rabie was beaten while trying to resist the theft of his flock.
Eyewitnesses said a Palestinian ambulance rushed to the scene but was blocked by Israeli forces stationed at the nearby Ein Siniya checkpoint, preventing the injured man from being transported to the hospital for urgent treatment.
The attack comes amid a surge of settler violence across villages east of Ramallah.
In recent weeks, settlers have repeatedly raided Kafr Malek and neighboring Taybeh, torching property and assaulting residents under army protection.
Human rights groups note that such livestock thefts and assaults form part of a broader campaign aimed at displacing Palestinian shepherding communities.
Moreover, similar incidents by Israeli settlers in Jericho and Kobar over the past year have involved the theft of hundreds of sheep, physical assaults on shepherds, and deliberate property damage.
Since the start of the Israeli genocide on Gaza in October 2023, settler attacks in the occupied West Bank have sharply intensified, with dozens of Palestinians killed and hundreds displaced.
Local leaders warn that the assaults are carried out with impunity, as Israeli forces often stand by, or as in Thursday’s incident, actively obstruct medical aid.
Palestinian officials have condemned the attack near Kafr Malek as part of what they describe as Israel’s policy of “systematic settler terror” designed to seize Palestinian land and resources.
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