On 11 August 2020, settlers attacked two Palestinian engineers who were measuring land west of Huwarah as part of a survey of the village’s registered land. On Saturday morning, 3 October 2020, settlers again attacked surveyors working on the project.
When Murad a-Najar (47) and two other surveyors arrived at the location they’d been asked to measure, they immediately noticed settlers running towards them from the direction of the settlement of Yitzhar. The three men grabbed their equipment and ran away, with the settlers chasing after them and throwing stones. One of the stones hit a-Najar in the back and he fell to the ground, but he managed to get up and run towards homes in the village. At that point, the settlers drew back. The two other surveyors, who reached the village before a-Najar, notified the village council head and he arrived with several residents.
A-Najar was taken to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where he was examined and X-rayed. He was given painkillers and discharged.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i on 7 October 2020, Murad a-Najar (47), a father of six from Burin, described the attack:
I own a company that provides surveying and engineering services. On Saturday, at around 10:30 A.M., I went with two other surveyors to measure land in the western part of Huwarah, about 500 meters away from the village homes and 700 meters from the settlement of Yitzhar.
Suddenly, about seven settlers came running towards us from the direction of Yitzhar. I told the other two surveyors that we had to run for it. They grabbed the equipment and started running, and I followed behind them. The settlers chased us and shouted something in Hebrew. I didn’t understand what they were saying. They started throwing stones at us and one of them hit me in the back. I fell over. It was very painful, but I had to get up and keep running because if they’d caught me, they would’ve kept throwing stones and not let me go.
I kept running until I got away from them and reached the village homes.