On Friday afternoon, 3 November 2020, about 20 settlers arrived at the western entrance of the village of Burqah. The settlers stopped their vehicles — a minibus and two cars — and began throwing stones, hitting a truck, two cars, and three homes (one of which is under construction). In the first home, the settlers broke two windows, and in the second home, they broke a security camera. In the third home, they damaged a wall. A few minutes later, the settlers stopped throwing stones, got back in their vehicles, and drove towards the settlement of Homesh (which was evacuated in 2005). After news of the attack spread in the village, residents went towards Homesh to protest the incident and tried to block the settlement entrance.
About 15 minutes later, some 30 settlers left Homesh, and when they saw the blockage, they began throwing stones at residents who were still in the area. Soldiers and Border Police officers arrived at the scene in seven jeeps, drove out the residents, and opened the road to traffic.
One of the homes attacked by the settlers is located in the north-western section of the town, less than 100 meters from Route 60, and belongs to Shadyah and Sami Dasuqi. The couple has five children, ranging in age from 7 months to 11 years.
In her testimony, Shadyah Dasuqi (31) described to B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i what happened to her and her children when their home was attacked:
At around 2:30 P.M., I was tidying up the closets in my room, and the children were watching TV in the living room. I heard noises from the outside, and when I looked out the window, I saw a large, seven-seat vehicle with Israeli license plates and a driver with side curls behind the wheel. I immediately phoned my husband, who was in Huwarah at the time, and asked him to come quickly. We didn’t manage to speak much, and then I heard stones hitting and breaking the bedroom and living room windows. I immediately called my kids and told them to stay in the hallway. I got very stressed because I have a seven-month-old baby, and my eldest daughter Shahd (11) is disabled and can’t walk by herself. We were terrified, and I didn’t know how to protect the kids because they’re all small. I started crying, and so did the kids. I phoned my husband, and he said that his mother and brothers were on their way to us. About five minutes later, everything calmed down, and the hail of stones stopped.
This is the first time our house has been attacked. We lived in the village center before, and we moved here in October because we wanted some peace and privacy.
I know the settlers also attacked our neighbor Fadi Masoud’s home, who lives about 100 meters away. They broke his security camera and attacked another home under construction.
Since the attack, my kids get frightened by every noise, and each time they ask me if it’s the settlers. Jamal (8) told me he wants to go back to the old house and that he doesn’t like this house anymore.