ANKARA

A group of illegal Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinian farmers on Friday who were working on their farms in the central occupied West Bank.

Palestinian state news agency, Wafa, said the settlers attacked several Palestinians on their agricultural fields near the town of Deir Jarir in northeastern Ramallah.

At least one Palestinian, who sustained injuries and bruises in the attack, was transferred to a hospital for treatment, said Wafa.

Settlers, backed by the Israeli army, have escalated attacks on Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank in recent months, burning homes and farms with impunity as Israeli officials continue to publicly incite attacking Palestinians.

Tension has been high in the occupied West Bank, where more than 950 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 injured since the Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip began in October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

The International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal last July and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.