For three days, from 16 to 18 January 2021, settlers repeatedly attacked the home of Rajaai Idris (37), his wife ‘Aishah Tarif-Idris (36) and their six children in the neighborhood of Khallet a-Natash, east of Hebron. The settlers, some of whom were masked, arrived in the morning and in the evening and shattered five of the home’s windows. Rajaai Idris called the Israel Police with every new attack, but the officers arrived late or not at all. Idris even sent the police video footage of the attacks. The officers suggested he file a complaint at the police station and on 25 January 2021, he went to the police station in the settlement of Kiryat Arba. Idris was made to wait two hours until he was allowed into the station and an officer registered his complaint.
However, on the evening of 1 February 2021, settlers again came to the house and stoned it, some using slingshots, smashing several of its windows. Idris called the police, who again arrived after the settlers had left, about half an hour after the call. The officers photographed the stones the settlers had thrown on the roof and inside the house, as well as the shattered windows. They again suggested Idris file a complaint at the police station, yet he chose not to do so as the exercise was futile.
The outpost of Giv’at Gal, which serves as a neighborhood of the settlement of Kiryat Arba, was established in 2014 less than 100 meters away from Khallet a-Natash. Since then, settlers have been attacking area farmers and preventing them from accessing their land.
In a testimony she gave B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 3 February 2021, ‘Aishah Tarif-Idris (36) described the settlers’ attacks and the futility of going to the police:
I live with my husband Rajaai and our six children – Zuhour (14), Qusai (12), Nisan (9), Sai’d (4), Usayed (3) and baby Awais, who’s less than a month old – in a two-story building in Khallet a-Natash. We live in one apartment and my husband’s parents and siblings live in the other four.
Since the outpost was built, we’ve been suffering regularly from attacks by young settlers who throw stones at our home. It has a really bad effect on our children, who have recently started wetting themselves and are afraid to sleep alone in their beds. They all insist on sleeping in our bed.
On 16 January 2021, around midday, I came home from hospital after giving birth to Awais. We were so happy. I was exhausted, and all I wanted was to sleep and rest. But then settlers showed up and started throwing stones at our house. It continued the next day and the day after that, on 17 and 18 January. The settlers came in the morning and in the evening and threw stones at the building. The kids were terrified, and I was frightened and exhausted.
On 1 February 2021, at around 3:30 P.M., settlers again showed up. They were a group of 16 or 17 year old and they started throwing stones at our home with slingshots. The stones hit the roof and windows, and the kids started crying. I tried to calm them down, while my husband tried to film what was happening on his cell phone. He called the Israel Police and two officers arrived half an hour later, but the settlers had left by then.
The officers saw the shattered windows and the stones on the roof. One of them, who introduced himself as Fuad and spoke fluent Arabic, took photos of the stones and the windows. He asked my husband not to touch the stones because they wanted to collect them, as they had the settlers’ fingerprints on them. The officers asked my husband to go to the police station in Kiryat Arba and file a complaint, but he didn’t go. It’s useless. Not to mention the fact that they make him wait outside for hours on end, or how badly he’s treated there every time he goes to file a complaint.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 26 January 2021, Rajaai Idris described the settlers’ repeated attacks and the false promises given by the police:
Since they built the outpost of Giv’at Gal we’ve been suffering repeated attacks by settlers, along with our relatives who live next door. Sometimes they throw stones at our homes, and at other times they prevent us from going to our farmland, which is close to here. It’s especially bad during the olive harvest season, when the settlers do as they please on our land and the Civil Administration only allows us to access it for two days.
Over the last month, the settlers’ attacks have intensified. It used to happen only on weekends and on Jewish holidays. But this year, settler kids between the ages of 12 and 17 have started throwing stones at our homes almost every day. It terrifies the children. The sound of the stones hitting the roof or the windows is petrifying. Every time it happens, I call the Israel Police. I’ve already filed dozens of complaints at the police station in Kiryat Arba, but it’s useless. There’s also a military guard post at the top of the hill, and all the attacks happen right before the eyes of the two soldiers stationed there. Filing a complaint is a nightmare in itself, because they make me wait for hours in front of the station until they let me in, and sometimes they don’t let me in at all.
In one of the attacks in January, two officers showed up after I called the police, and one of them introduced himself as Erez. They took photos of the windows and the stones, and Erez promised me they would stop the settlers’ attacks. He gave me a phone number so I could report to him and send him video footage of the attacks. I did that, but the attacks didn’t stop. Yesterday, I went to the police station and waited for over two hours until they let me in. The officer who received me was very irritated with me and demanded I show him ownership documents for the land we live on and a permit from the Civil Administration that we’re allowed to be in the area. I told him I was there to file a complaint and not present permits for my right to live in my own home. I asked him to call the officer Erez, so he’d explain to him that this was a real incident. He called him, and Erez must have sent him the video. About 15 minutes later, he took my statement and then I went home, exhausted.