BETHLEHEM, Israeli settlers today assaulted a Palestinian elderly close to Wadi Rahhal village, south of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to a local activist.

Hassan Breijeh said that a group of settlers brutally beat 70-year-old Mohammad Ayesh, a resident of Artas village, southwest of the city, while he was tending to his land, inflicting bruises across his body.

Israeli settler violence against Palestinians is almost a routine reality in the occupied West Bank, and is rarely prosecuted by the Israeli occupation authorities.

Settlers violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.

There are over 800,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Source: Palestine News & Info Agency