Settlers steal 300 sheep from Palestinian family in West Bank

A Palestinian family was assaulted by illegal Israeli settlers in the northern occupied West Bank today, according to a local activist.

“Settlers stole around 300 sheep belonging to the family near the town of Aqraba in Nablus,” Hasan Melihat said in a statement.

One person was injured and transferred to hospital, he said.

The activist warned of increasing settler attacks against Bedouin communities in the West Bank to force their displacement.

According to Israeli estimates, over 720,000 illegal settlers reside in Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have spiked since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in October, according to Palestinian residents.

The methods employed by illegal settlers varied from firing live ammunition to beatings, stoning vehicles, and attacking homes, families and farmers.

At least 682 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,600 others injured by Israeli army fire and settler attacks since October, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark advisory opinion on 19 July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal”, called for the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and for reparations to be paid to Palestinians.

Read: Illegal Israeli settlers attack Palestinian area in southern West Bank, steal 300 sheep