There were two witnesses to the incident that took place on Monday morning, 15 June 2020: Musa (22) and Islam (18) Bani Maniyah. The brothers were grazing their flock in eastern al-Fajam when they noticed four civilian vehicles, coming from the direction of the settlement of Itamar, turn off onto the road leading to their community. From about 500 meters away, Musa and Islam watched the vehicles stop in front of their family's tents. They saw some 20 settlers get out and go on a calculated rampage. First, the settlers smashed the community’s solar system, which consisted of four solar panels and a circuit breaker panel provided by the Palestinian Authority. Then they vandalized a parked car. Then they entered the tents and destroyed all of their contents, including a refrigerator, bedding, kitchen utensils and sheeting. Finally, they stole several tents and left.
The Bani Maniyah family earn a living from herding and live in the area for most of the year, along with five other families. In summer, they relocate to ‘Aqraba and a few members stay behind to watch the flock.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i, Musa Bani Maniyah described the settlers’ rampage:
When I reached our tents, I saw they were in a terrible state. The settlers had vandalized the tents themselves and everything inside them – bedding, clothes, utensils, mattresses, everything. They smashed the refrigerator. I don’t know what they used, maybe iron pipes or clubs. They stole mattresses from my brother Yusef’s tent, as well as the winter bedding. They also vandalized my brother’s car, which was parked by his tent. We only use it for driving to the fields because it isn’t registered. Within a few minutes, they destroyed everything.
We got the solar panels from the local authorities three years ago. They generated electricity for three families: us, and the Fakhr and Zuheir families who live in the community. In summer, the heat is unbearable here. Thanks to the solar power we could use a refrigerator, so we had cold water. We also used the electricity to charge our phones.