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HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli troops stormed a village south of Hebron and assaulted three Palestinians on Saturday evening, locals said.

During the raid, Israeli forces tried to demolish the village's traditional oven, which produces bread for more than 50 residents.

Tariq Hathalin told Ma'an that Israeli soldiers raided the semi-nomadic village of Um al-Kher east of Yatta and attacked him, his sister, and an elderly man.

Hathalin explained that a group of soldiers escorted a settler from the nearby Israeli settlement of Karmel and tried to destroy the traditional "tabun" oven in use by local villagers.

The attack came after settlers in the nearby houses claimed that smoke emanating from the oven disturbed them.

When Hathalin, his sister, and an elderly man Suleiman Hathalin tried to stop the demolition, the soldiers physically assaulted them before fleeing the scene.

An Israeli army spokeswoman directed Ma'an to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories for information, but the spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.