This article was originally published by Ma'an News and is republished with permission.

A Palestinian police officer pours freshly picked olives into a sack near Bethlehem, in the southern West Bank. (Mouid Ashqar, Maan Images)

An elderly Palestinian was attacked on Saturday by Israeli settlers in his fields near A'zmut village, east of Nablus. Mustafa Abed Al-Khaleq sustained moderate injuries after being hit with several large stones thrown by the group.

The 63-year old was moved to hospital for treatment.

According to Al-Khaleq, dozens of settlers attacked him as he worked in his olive grove, nestled between the villages of Um-At-Tuyor and A'zmut, which are located near the illegal Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh.

"The settlers threw stones at my head and hands and pushed me off my ladder," explained Al-Khaleq. The elderly man fell to the ground, immobile, at which point one of the settlers stole his mobile phone.

After the incident Israeli Civil Administration officials arrived on the scene, and encouraged the man to file a complaint to the Israeli police.

Palestinians have reported a marked rise in settler attacks as this year's annual olive harvest gets into full swing.

Also on Saturday, a Reuters photographer and a British national were attacked by right-wing Israeli settlers near Bethlehem, in the south of the West Bank.

Israeli human rights groups have accused the Israeli authorities of turning a blind-eye to settler violence, and Palestinians claim that the Israeli army often fails to prevent violent attacks and acts of vandalism by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property.

Additional reporting by the Institute for Middle East Understanding.

---

Read more:

Olive groves set on fire, as West Bank settler violence flares

Palestinian police assist West Bank olive pickers