Police arrested five settlers suspected of breaking into a Palestinian shepherd’s home in the southern West Bank overnight between Monday and Tuesday, slaughtering his sheep and attacking other residents.

The incident was one of several alleged extremist acts and violent incidents to scar the territory on Monday, with attacks recorded from the northern city of Jenin to the Hebron area in the south.

The unrest left several Israelis and Palestinians injured amid a recent surge in violence and extremist settler activity. It comes as Israel has announced major steps to tighten its hold on the territory, announcing a string of new settlements and a major upgrade to the holy site of Rachel’s Tomb.

In Jenin, a Catholic church indicated that Muslim “outlaws” torched its Christmas tree just days before the holiday. In the central West Bank, two Palestinians were seriously injured and three Israelis were lightly hurt in an altercation. In another incident, masked settlers were filmed throwing stones and harassing Palestinians and left-wing activists.

The break-in at the home of the Palestinian shepherd, identified in Palestinian media as Mahmoud Dramin, was the second time since October that his property has been damaged. On Monday night, security forces were dispatched to his compound in Samu, a town in the South Hebron Hills, after receiving reports that a group of young men from the nearby settlement of Susya were raiding the village.

The attackers could be seen in security camera footage beating sheep in their pen with what appear to be large metal poles, before the video suddenly cut out after one of the men disarmed the surveillance device.

In footage taken after the incident, one of the sheep was seen lying bloodied and lifeless on the ground alongside the rest of the livestock huddled in the pen. The assailants also reportedly threw stones at the home, shattering its windows.

זוכרים את התקיפה בדיר בפאתי סמוע בסוף אוקטובר? (קשה לזכור, לאור עומס האירועים) פורעים הרגו באכזריות כבשים בדיר של מחמוד דראמין ובני משפחה נפגעו מגז מדמיע. התיעוד ותלונה הוגשו אז למשטרה. הלילה שוב תקפו, הרגו כבשים וגם שברו חלונות של הבית. מחמוד אמר לי שהנזק........

© The Times of Israel