Israel Police's Judea and Samaria District has launched an investigation into Friday's assault on an 80-year-old Palestinian who was severely beaten near the northern West Bank Jewish settlement of Avnei Hefetz. The victim, Hassan Barhoush of Kafr al-Labad, a village not far from the settlement, was beaten all over his body with sticks. He suffered multiple fractures and lost consciousness.

After initially being taken to a hospital in the Palestinian West Bank city of Tul Karm, he was later admitted to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where he remains in surgical intensive care. He sustained three fractures to his left arm, one to his right arm, a broken rib, fractures around his shoulder blade and a leg injury. His son Hosni has been at his bedside since he was hospitalized.

According to the son, since the elder Barhoush retired from his job as a construction worker in Israel, he has tended to the family's flock of 20 sheep and regularly hikes through the nearby fields with them. Last Friday, the sheep returned to the village without Barhoush. Concerned family members went looking for him in the fields and found him unconscious about 500 meters from the perimeter fence of Avnei Hafetz.

After regaining consciousness, he recounted that he had been tending the sheep when he was approached by two young people coming from the direction of the settlement, and that they then began beating him with sticks. He said he remembered little of the incident.

Palestinian police alerted Israeli police on learning of the assault. Barhoush's family has also filed a complaint with the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din. Policemen have surveyed the area of the attack and collected evidence in an effort to determine who committed the assault.