Masked settlers beat Palestinian farmers near Nablus

Masked Jewish settlers beat and injured Palestinian farmers in a field near the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, Palestinian witnesses and doctors said.

The settlers sprayed four Palestinians who were planting wheat with pepper gas and then beat them with sticks, the witnesses said. Two were injured, one moderately, and treated at a local hospital, doctors said.

"They parked on the road and we thought they were just hiking but suddenly they put on masks and they sprayed me in my eyes and beat me and I couldn't see who it was," said farmer Hussein Asida, 46. A Palestinian youth, 15, was among those attacked, Asida said.

The Palestinians said the attackers spoke Hebrew among themselves. Settlers from the nearby illegal outpost of Havat Gilad have attacked Palestinian farmers in the past.

A local Palestinian leader, Omar Shtayeh, said he filed a complaint with
Israeli authorities about Tuesday's incident. The Israeli army and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Associated Press