• Source:JND
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A disturbing video circulating on social media has brought renewed attention to rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank, showing a group of masked Israeli settlers brutally assaulting a 67-year-old deaf Palestinian man at a plant nursery in the village of Deir Sharaf.

The viral footage captures dozens of men dressed mostly in black, their faces covered, storming the German-Palestinian-run nursery on January 8. The attackers are seen chasing Basim Saleh Yassin, a local resident, before knocking him to the ground and repeatedly beating him with sticks and kicks.

Victim Unable To Hear Warnings

According to eyewitnesses from the family that owns the nursery, workers fled the premises after spotting the armed settlers approaching. Yssin, who is deaf, was unable to hear warnings to escape. In the video, he can be seen running before stumbling and falling. Several attackers then surround him, striking him while he kneels on the ground.

As the group retreats, one man is seen kicking Yassin in the head, while others land additional blows, leaving him motionless on the pavement. Family members said to local media that Yassin sustained serious injuries to his face, chest and back, and suffered broken bones in his hand. He remains under medical treatment at a local hospital.

Property Destroyed, Vehicles Set Ablaze

Eyewitnesses told reporters that four vehicles at the nursery were set on fire and destroyed during the attack. This was the third assault on the facility in the past year, with a previous incident in September causing damage estimated at more than USD 600,000.

Security camera footage from the nursery shows the attackers arriving in a coordinated manner, armed with sticks and moving freely across the premises before fleeing.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks linked to Israeli settlers in the West Bank, which rights groups say have surged since the outbreak of the Gaza war following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Violence reportedly spiked during the Palestinian olive harvest season in October and has continued into early 2026.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously described such perpetrators as a “handful of extremists” and has called on law enforcement agencies to take action. However, Palestinian residents and human rights organisations argue that attacks have become a near-daily occurrence across the territory.

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The Israeli army said it dispatched troops to a nearby junction following reports of vandalism and assaults, and confirmed that three suspects were detained and handed over to police for questioning. The military added that it condemns violence “of any kind.”

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Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza during the 1967 war. More than 500,000 Israelis currently live in settlements across the West Bank, which are widely regarded as illegal under international law. Last month, Israel’s cabinet approved plans for 19 new settlements, further fuelling concerns over the viability of a future Palestinian state.


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