JORDAN VALLEY, Colonial Israeli settlers today assaulted and chased Palestinian herders while grazing their sheep in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, said Aref Daraghmeh, an official in charge of monitoring the Israeli settlement file in the area.

He said a group of settlers under army protection assaulted Palestinian herders while grazing their sheep near Khirbet Samra village and forced them to leave.

Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians are commonplace, but attacks on farmers and herders are particularly intensive in the Jordan Valley area. Most of these attacks sually occurr in the presence of the Israeli occupation army, which usually does nothing to stop the attacks and rather provides protection for assailants.

Armed settlers and soldiers often prevent Palestinian shepherds from herding in the open pastures of the occupied West Bank in order to force them to abandon the area.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency