Jewish settlers from the Israeli outpost of Esh Kodesh (Sacred Fire), built in the year 2000 on lands confiscated from the Palestinians villages of Jalud and Qusra in the occupied territories, were recorded violently attacking a Palestinian farmer on Saturday, April 3. In a video released by the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din on Saturday evening, hours after the attack, masked men are seen striking the man with a rod and then hurling stones at him.

Masked Jewish settlers assault a Palestinian farmer with stones in the occupied West Bank, Saturday April 3, 2021. (Screenshot: Yesh Din)

The attack took place on Saturday afternoon near the village of Jalud in the northern West Bank on a plot of land near the injured Palestinian man’s home. The Jewish terrorists staged the attack while a Palestinian electrician and the head of the Jalud village council were repairing an electricity pole, which settlers had toppled several months ago, vandalism which was captured in an earlier video released by Yesh Din. The victim in last Saturday’s attack, a man in his 50s, sustained extensive bodily injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment. Occupation soldiers appeared on the scene, but the Israeli troops did not intervene in defense of the victim, but rather fired stun grenades at the Palestinian residents of Jalud who came to the assistance of the man being attacked.

In response to the attack, Joint List MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) said, “This violence is supported by the far-right Israeli government and the army, which are doing nothing. We must stop this colonialist reality and dismantle all settlements.” Abdallah Haj Mohammed, head of the Jalud village council, said there was no use in making police complaints as “no one investigates the incidents.” In fact, arrests of perpetrators have been exceedingly rare and rights groups lament that convictions are even more so, with the majority of charges in such cases being dropped. Last month, stone-throwing settlers caused serious damage to the windows of cars and homes in Jalud.

“Violent settlers continue to act in support of the [Israeli] state and the army to harm Palestinians, reduce their liberties, and try to drive them from their land,” said Yesh Din Executive director Lior Amihai.

The human rights group B’Tselem has written, “Settler violence and vandalism take place with full backing by the Israeli authorities. Sometimes soldiers take part in the assault; at other times, they stand idly by. The police make no substantial effort to investigate the incidents, nor do they take measures to prevent them or stop them in real time.” Israel benefits from the repercussions of settler violence, as this phenomenon has gradually dispossessed Palestinians over more and more areas in the West Bank, paving the way for a state takeover of land and resources, B’Tselem has said.

Related: View the video recording of the Saturday, April 3rd attack of Palestinian man by Jewish settlers