Palestinian baby injured, olive trees destroyed in illegal settler attacks in occupied West Bank

Illegal Israeli settlers injured a Palestinian infant and destroyed dozens of olive trees in a series of attacks in the occupied West Bank, a rights group and local sources said Thursday.

The Bedouin rights group al-Baydar said an 8-month-old baby was wounded and hospitalized after illegal settlers attacked Palestinian homes and property with stones late Wednesday in the al-Rabia area of Sa'ir town, northeast of Hebron in the southern West Bank.

Al-Baydar said the assault caused significant damage to Palestinian homes and property, calling the attack a dangerous escalation in the settler assaults on civilians.

It held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for the repeated settler violations and called on human rights organizations to intervene urgently to protect Palestinian residents and ensure accountability for those responsible.

Illegal settlers also uprooted dozens of olive trees in the town of Dayr Balut, west of Salfit in the central West Bank.

According to the Palestinian official news agency Wafa, the attack caused extensive damage to farmland and local livelihoods in the area.

Israeli settlers also plowed 4 dunams (around 1 acre) of land planted with olives in Turmus Ayya town, north of Ramallah, local sources said.

The attack came a day after illegal settlers plowed 5 dunams (1.2 acres) of farmland in the same town.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, an official body, illegal Israeli settlers carried out 621 attacks against Palestinians and property in the occupied West Bank in November.

Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,102 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured nearly 11,000, and detained around 21,000 since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.