RAMALLAH: Armed Israeli settlers stole hundreds of sheep from a Bedouin community in the Jordan Valley, local residents say, in one of the largest recent incidents in which the Bedouin in the area have reported being attacked and harassed.

Such attacks in the area have increased since the Gaza war began but witnesses said the scale of Friday’s incident near Ein Al-Auja, north of the city of Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, went far beyond anything witnessed previously.

“This was the biggest one there has been,” said Hani Zayed, a resident of the community, who said he lost 70 sheep in the attack. After years of experience in dealing with local law enforcement, the idea of appealing to the police to help elicited nothing more than a shrug.

“The police don’t do anything; they have never helped us in anything. If you tell them the settler is taking your sheep, they’ll ask ‘Are you sure it’s yours?’”

Local residents said about 1,500 sheep and goats were taken by settlers, who drove the animals from the village under the eyes of police and soldiers or loaded them onto pickup trucks.

An Israeli police statement denied the incident had taken place as described. Israel’s military did not comment, nor did a group representing settlers in the area.

The Jordan Valley, a relatively sparsely populated area close to the Jordan River, is now under increasing pressure from settlers, local residents and human rights groups say.

For many Bedouin herders, the loss of a flock means the loss of any way of earning a livelihood.