The two men enter the village. They wield long sticks and wear masks over their faces.

They have come to Al-Mughayyir in the north of the occupied West Bank from a nearby Israeli settlement. Haroon Bshara, a resident of the village, said the men, captured on video, used pepper spray in an assault on a Palestinian farmer last week.

This village of some 4,000 residents has become a flashpoint on the front line of an escalating wave of violence by Israeli settlers who are attacking Palestinian homes across the territory.

Shorts

Several Israeli outposts have been established around the village in recent years. Settler extremists have taken over most of the local farmland, and launch near-daily raids into the village, locals say.