Injury of a Child and an Elderly Man in an Attack by Settlers East of Bethlehem

SadaNews - A child and an elderly man were injured this evening, Monday, as a result of an attack by settlers who beat them brutally in the "Khalayil al-Lawz" area, east of Bethlehem.

Security sources informed the official agency that a group of settlers stormed the area, attacked the homes of citizens, and brutally assaulted the elderly Ibrahim Ahmad Hasan Abayat (80 years old), causing him to suffer serious bruises in the shoulder and back, and the child Mustafa Abu Jleif (14 years old), who suffered fractures in his limbs.

This assault comes in the context of escalating attacks by settlers on citizens and their properties in the eastern areas of Bethlehem Governorate, particularly "Khalayil al-Lawz," which has been subjected to repeated assaults for months, including storming homes, assaulting residents, and attempts to impose a fait accompli by force, under the protection of occupation forces.

The area adjacent to the colonial outposts east of Bethlehem is also witnessing continuous restrictions on citizens, through nighttime assaults, preventing access to agricultural lands, and targeting farmers and shepherds, exacerbating the suffering of residents, especially the elderly and children, and creating a state of constant fear and instability in the residential communities close to the settlements.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the occupation forces and settlers carried out 2,144 assaults during the month of November, with the occupation army conducting 1,523 assaults, while settlers executed 621 assaults, concentrated mainly in the governorates of: Ramallah and Al-Bireh with 360 assaults, Hebron with 348, Bethlehem with 342, and Nablus with 334 assaults.