Bethlehem: A Palestinian farmer sustained bruises and injuries today after being assaulted by Israeli occupation soldiers while working on his land in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, Mahmoud Abdullah, a member of the Agricultural Cooperative Association in al-Khader, reported that Israeli soldiers and a colonist stormed the Sahl al-Rajm area, near the junction leading to the colonial settlement of Efrat. They physically assaulted a 63-year-old man while he was tending to his land with his wife and daughter.
Abdullah further detailed that the soldiers briefly detained the man's wife and daughter before taking him toward the colonial settlement of Daniel. He was later released and found alone in the field with visible injuries. The injured farmer was subsequently taken to a hospital in Bethlehem for treatment.
Since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, farmers in al-Khader have faced systematic prevention from accessing their lands. They have encountered repeated assaults, arbitrary detentions, and the seizure of their crops by Israeli forces and colonists.