On Sunday morning, 20 December 2020, Hilal Daraghmeh (28) and his cousin, both residents of Khirbet ‘Ein al-Hilweh, were out grazing their cattle in the area of Um al-‘Ubar. The pastureland lies about 100 meters west of Route 90.
At around 8:00 A.M., after the two split up, about five settlers approached Hilal Daraghmeh and started driving his cattle away so they could graze their flock in the area. His cousin, who saw what was happening, grew frightened and led his cows away. Meanwhile, one of the settlers went over to Daraghmeh, hit him in the head, and kicked him until he lost consciousness and fell over. The settlers then left, and Daraghmeh’s cousin hurried back to him and called for help. A military vehicle and an Israeli ambulance arrived, and the medical team gave Daraghmeh first aid. About an hour later, a Red Crescent ambulance arrived and took Daraghmeh to hospital in Tubas, where he was examined and discharged.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh, Hilal Daraghmeh described how the settlers attacked him:
I live in the area of Khirbet ‘Ein al-Hilweh and recently got married. I go out every morning with my cousins to graze my cows.
On 20 December 2020, my cousin and I went out with the cows as usual to the area of al-‘Ubar, which is about three kilometers from my home. My cousin was grazing his herd about 100 meters away from me.
Suddenly, I saw several settlers I know, most of them from the settlement of Hemdat. They graze their herds there in the morning, too. They went over to our cows and started driving them away.
One of them came up to me, hit me in the face several times, and kicked me in several parts of my body until I blacked out. When I came to, I saw a military jeep arriving and then blacked out again. I woke up in an Israeli ambulance and felt dizzy. They transferred me to a Red Crescent ambulance that took me to hospital in Tubas, where I was examined and X-rayed. I was discharged a few hours later.
We’ve been grazing our cows here quietly for many years, but in the last few years the settlers have started taking over the area and building outposts around us. They started grazing their herds in our pastureland. They have a lot of cows, which they spread out over the entire area and prevent us from accessing many places. They put up fences and closed off thousands of dunams of pastureland. Every day, they chase us, and sometimes they attack us. We’re forced to graze our herds along the sides of the main roads. It’s dangerous, but we have no choice.
The military stands by them, protects them and helps them drive us out of the pastureland. Sometimes the military even detains us for hours to stop us from going there.
The settlement of Shadmot Mehola was established about two kilometers northeast of the pastureland where Daraghmeh was attacked.