Settlers attack Palestinian boy picking olives near Jenin

A 14-year-old Palestinian boy sustained wounds and bruises Tuesday night after he was attacked by extremist Israeli settlers while picking olives near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, locals said.

Saqir Mahmoud Hirzallah was in his family’s fields in the town of Yabad west of Jenin, picking olives with friends, when a group of settlers from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Mevo Dotan approached.

All of the boys managed to run away except Hirzallah who was caught and beaten by the settlers, locals told Ma’an News Agency.

Israeli settlers regularly carry out attacks on Palestinians and their property in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Such attacks have increased since two Israeli settlers were killed by suspected Palestinian gunmen on October 1st.

According to the Palestinian Negotiation Affairs department, over 130 attacks were carried out by Israeli settlers in the first week of October alone.

Last week, Israeli settlers from the illegal Givat Gal outpost opened live fire on homes in a Palestinian village nearby Hebron. Seperately, four Palestinians were injured after settlers from the illegal Yitzhar settlement threw stones at locals picking olives in the Jabal Suliman area near Nablus.

The Palestinian government has no jurisdiction over Israelis in the West Bank, and violent acts carried out by Israeli settlers often occur in the presence of Israeli military forces who rarely act to protect Palestinian residents.