On 29 April 2021, at around 7:00 A.M., Ibrahim Hamduni (65), a married father of eight, took his cows and sheep to graze south of his village, Imreihah, in Jenin District. The settlement of Mevo Dotan was established about three kilometers west of the pastureland, and the settlement of Hermesh was established about two kilometers west of it.
At around 8:00, a settler arrived with a flock of sheep and called another settler to come. The two assaulted Hamduni with wooden clubs and beat him all over his body, including his head. Hamduni managed to get away and fled the area with this flock, bleeding from the head. The settlers drew back toward Mevo Dotan.
After he had gone some distance, Hamduni called his son, who came to meet him and helped him walk home. From there, the son drove him to hospital in Jenin, where Hamduni was examined and X-rayed and had three head wounds stitched. He was also bruised all over his body from the blows.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 29 April 2021, Ibrahim Hamduni recounted being attacked by settlers:
On Thursday, 29 April 2021, at around 7:00 A.M., I went out to pasture as usual with my five cows and three sheep. I take them to graze them in the valley south of our village, Imreihah, where there’s grass throughout the season.
After I got there, a settler I know arrived. He grazes his flock in the same area. He came over to me and asked, “What are you doing here?” I told him I was grazing my cows and sheep on our land as I always do. He called someone and then another settler came, whom I’ve also seen with a herd in this area.
The two settlers started hitting me on the head, chest and legs with clubs. My head and face started bleeding and my ribs hurt. I was there alone and had no way to defend myself. I managed to run away despite the pain and bleeding, and led my cows and sheep away.
I saw that the two settlers move away towards the settlement of Dotan. I called my son Fuad and asked him to meet me and help me walk, because of the pain in my chest and head. I went towards the village and Fuad met me on the way. I leaned on him, and we kept walking until we got home at around 8:30 A.M.
When we got there, my wife and the rest of my family were shocked to see me bleeding from my head. It was a sweltering day and I was fasting. My sons wiped the blood from my face and head, and Fuad took me in his car to the hospital in Jenin to have me tested and make sure that I wasn’t injured. I had severe pain in my head, legs, back and chest.
The settlers’ violence is meant to scare us away from going to the pastureland, so they can take over the land.