In recent years — and especially since 7 October 2023 — there has been a sharp increase in both the number and severity of settler attacks against Palestinians. The incidents reported on this blog do not reflect all incidents of settler violence in the West Bank, but only those that B’Tselem was able to document and investigate.
Surif, Hebron District: Israeli settlers attack village residents for three days. Israeli soldiers and police officers escorting them fire tear gas canisters and live rounds at the defending villagers
On Sunday, 2 April 2023, dozens of settlers descended on the village of Surif, launching a three-day attack on its residents, under the protection of the military, which fired tear gas canisters and live rounds at the defending villagers.
At around 5:30 P.M., two masked settlers armed with handguns went to 53-year-old Ibrahim Ghneimat’s farmland. Ghneimat was grazing his flock there with his son ‘Obaydah (15). The settlers approached the two and one of them threw a large stone at Ibrahim, who was hit in the forehead, fell down and lost consciousness. When his sons Rami (24) and Ahmad (31) came to help him, they were attacked too, but managed to take him to ‘Aliyah Hospital in Hebron, where he was diagnosed with a cracked skull, and deep gashes in his forehead and back of head were sutured. Ghaneimat also had bruises on the left shoulder and neck and swelling in the left eye. He was kept in the hospital for two days for observation. Rami’s leg was cracked by a stone the settlers threw and it was put in a cast.
While the family members received medical care at the hospital, about 20 more settlers, some masked and armed with handguns, arrived at the site of the attack with a military escort. The settlers attacked villagers who had also arrived and threw stones at nearby houses. When village residents threw stones back to defend themselves, the soldiers fired tear gas canisters at the houses. Iman Ghneimat (30), who was on the roof of her house, was hit in the abdomen by a stone thrown by the settlers. She was taken in a Palestinian ambulance to the local clinic.
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Iman and Ghassan Ghneimat’s home in Surif. The couple were on the lower part of the roof when Iman was hit in the stomach by a stone thrown by settlers. Photo: Manal al-Ja'bari, B'Tselem, 5 Apr. 2023
The settlers and the soldiers remained in the area, joined, at some point, by Border Police forces. In the clashes that developed between the settlers and village youths, the soldiers fired tear gas canisters at residents’ houses and the Border Police fired live rounds at the youths. The settlers left around 8:00 P.M., but some soldiers remained until later that night.
The next day, 3 April 2023, at around 2:30 P.M., dozens of settlers, some masked, descended on the village again with a military escort. One of the settlers was armed with a rifle. Another was riding an ATV. They cut down and torched olive trees in a grove belonging to a village resident, and then advanced towards village homes and began throwing stones at them in front of the soldiers. When village youths tried to repel the settlers with stone-throwing, the soldiers fired tear gas canisters at them. Some residents suffered from gas inhalation and received treatment on-site. In the meantime, Border Police officers arrived as well, and fired live rounds at the young men. The clashes between the residents and the settlers and soldiers who were with them continued into the evening, and then, the settlers left while shouting and threatening to burn the village as they did in Huwarah. Some soldiers remained there until late at night.
On Tuesday, 4 April 2023, at around 4:00 P.M., the settlers returned accompanied by several soldiers. They again broke and torched olive trees in village groves, and again, village youths threw stones at them. The clashes lasted about 15 minutes, and then Border Police officers came and fired tear gas canisters and live rounds at the youths. The settlers left at that point, while the soldiers stayed until late at night, and then left too.
In a testimony he gave B'Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari, Ibrahim Ghneimat said:
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Ibrahim Ghneimat after being discharged from the hospital. Photo: Manal al-Ja'bari, B'Tselem, 5 Apr. 2023
I live in the Sha'b a-Sir area, northeast of Surif, with my wife Layla (53) and our sons: Tareq (27), ‘Issa (26), Rami (24), Mustafa (23), Ousamah (16), ‘Obaydah (15) and Yazan (13).
On Sunday, 2 April 2023, at around 3:00 P.M., I took our flock out to pasture on our land, about 300 meters away from the house, along with my son 'Obaydah. Everything was quiet until around five thirty in the evening, when I saw two masked settlers with guns strapped to their waists advancing towards us. They stopped about 10 meters away from us, and then one of them came closer, until he was about four meters away from me. I asked him what he wanted and told him to go away but he ignored me and kept quiet. I turned my head to talk to the other settler, and at the exact same time, the other one threw a big rock at me that hit the left side of my forehead. It knocked me down and I lost consciousness completely.
I came to at the clinic in the center of the village. My son Ahmed was there and told me that he’d brought me to the clinic after ‘Obaydah told him about the settler attack. He said that when they arrived Rami found me lying on the ground. At the clinic, I received first aid, the bleeding was stopped and then I was taken in an ambulance to ‘Aliyah Governmental Hospital. I had a CT scan of my head, and they found a crack in my skull. I also had a deep gash on my forehead and a gash on the back of my head that got stitched up, and I had bruises on my left shoulder and neck and swelling in my left eye. The doctors kept me at the hospital for two days for observation.
Rami Ghneimat, a resident of Surif, said in his testimony:
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Rami Ghneimat with a bandaged leg. Photo: Manal al-Ja'bari, B'Tselem, 5 Apr. 2023
Our family has a 20-dunam olive grove [1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters].
On Sunday, 2 April 2023, at around 3:00 P.M., my father and ‘Obaydah took our flock out to pasture on our land. I was in my room, which overlooks the land. At around 5:30 P.M., I heard ‘Obaydah shouting for help. I looked out the window and saw two masked settlers up the hill.
I quickly left the house with my brother Ahmad, in his pickup truck. Ahmad dropped me off near the grove, and when I got to my father, I found him lying on the ground unconscious with his face covered in blood. ‘Obaydah and I tried to get him out of there, and then the settlers threw stones at us. I was hit by a stone on my left leg, but I ignored it and we managed to get father to the truck, and Ahmad took him to the clinic in the village.
I stayed there, and in the meantime, some more village residents arrived. More than 30 settlers in their twenties or thirties also showed up. Some of them were masked, and some had weapons. They were escorted by soldiers. The settlers started throwing stones at the houses, and the residents threw stones back at them to defend themselves. The soldiers responded by firing tear gas canisters on the houses. Iman Ghneimat (30), who was on the roof of her house, was hit in the abdomen by a stone and taken to the village clinic by ambulance.
Around that time, my leg started swelling and it was hurting a lot. Hazem Ghneimat, the head of the village council, who also came to the scene, took me in his car to ’Aliyah Governmental Hospital in Hebron. I had an X-ray, and it turned out there was a crack in the bottom of my calf bone. It was put in a cast. By the time I got back, the settlers had left.
The next day, 3 April 2023, at around 2:30 P.M., dozens of settlers, some masked, came to the village again. They had soldiers with them this time too. They went into a plot of land owned by Mustafa Jamil Ghneimat (50) and started breaking and burning olive trees and throwing stones at houses, in front of the soldiers who did nothing. Village youths tried to repel the settlers and threw the stones back at them, and then the soldiers fired a ton of tear gas canisters at the village, flooding it with gas. People choked and got treated in the field. A lot of Border Police officers came too and fired live rounds at the youths. The clashes with the settlers and the Israeli military lasted until about 8:00 P.M. Then the settlers left, but they threatened to come back and burn the village like they did in Huwarah. Some of the soldiers stayed in the village until 11:00 P.M.
On Tuesday, 4 April 2023, at around 4:00 P.M., the settlers returned again with a few soldiers. They broke and torched olive trees, and village youths threw stones at them. I heard gunfire and didn’t know who was shooting, if it was a soldier or a settler. The clashes lasted about 15 minutes, and then Border Police officers came and fired tear gas canisters and live rounds at the youths. They then removed the settlers and the soldiers stuck around until about 7:30 P.M.
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Iman Ghneimat next to one of the windows her husband sealed with metal panels. Photo: Manal al-Ja'bari, B'Tselem, 5 Apr. 2023
Iman Ghneimat (30), a mother of five, said in her testimony:
I live in the Sha’b a-Sir area, north of Surif, with my husband Ghassan (40), and my children Baraah (18), Ayham (15), Muhammad (12), Rida (8) and Usayed (4). I’m a housewife.
On Sunday, 2 April 2023, at around 5:30 P.M., Ayham came home and said that settlers attacked someone from the village in the al-Wad Area. I went out to my balcony to see what was going on and saw a man lying on the ground without moving. Two young men were trying to pick him up and take him away from there, while two settlers who were up the hill were throwing stones at them. The two young men managed to pick up the man and take him in a pickup truck.
About ten minutes later, something like 30 settlers of different ages arrived, some of them masked and armed, accompanied by soldiers. The settlers started attacking the houses with stones, and the villagers came out to defend their houses. I went up to the roof with my husband, and we tried to fend off the settlers with stones, and then a large stone hit me in the stomach. I had severe pain and dizziness and I fell on the floor. A Palestinian ambulance that arrived in the area took me to the clinic in the center of the village. When I was admitted to the clinic, I saw the medical staff taking out the man who was attacked by the settlers when the incident started.
The doctor wanted to send me to a hospital in Hebron to have X-rays and CT scans done, but I refused because I wanted to go home. I was worried about my husband and sons.
I returned home at around 7:00 P.M. I was exhausted and had severe pain in my stomach. The settlers were still there, and there were many more soldiers then too, and some Border Police forces came too. There were clashes between the settlers and the village youth, and the army fired tear gas canisters at residents' houses. The Border Police officers fired live rounds at the youths too. In the meantime, it was time to break the fast, but we couldn't have Iftar because the settler attack went on until about 8:00 P.M. Even after they left, some soldiers stuck around until about 11:00 P.M.
The next day, 3 April 2023, at around 2:30 P.M., dozens of settlers, adults, some masked, came to our area, escorted by soldiers. The settlers started breaking and burning the olive trees in Mustafa Jamil Ghneimat’s grove, which is about 200 meters away from our house. The soldiers stayed out of their way, and the settlers advanced towards our houses and started throwing stones at them. Residents of the village tried repelling the settlers by throwing stones, and then the soldiers started firing tear gas canisters at the residents. Border Police officers showed up too and fired live rounds. One of the tear gas canisters fell on the stairs that lead to our house. The gas seeped into the house and my children started choking. They cried and shouted and calmed down only after we managed to let some air into the house.
The settlers left the area around 5:00 P.M., but during the Iftar meal, around 6:30 P.M., they came back with the soldiers and attacked our houses with stones again. The soldiers backed them up again and fired tear gas canisters at the houses. This attack lasted about ten minutes, and then they left. That day, I wasn’t able to cook the Iftar meal because of the settler attacks, so in the evening, we bought ready-made food.
The next morning, 4 April 2023, my husband replaced the glass window panes with metal panels to protect the house from the settler attacks. That same day, around 4:00 PM, settlers arrived again, accompanied by soldiers and attacked residents' houses with stones, breaking and burning trees. After about fifteen minutes, Border Police officers arrived. The settlers continued the attack and the officers joined in and fired live rounds and tear gas canisters at the residents, and only then removed them.
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In the past two years, B'Tselem documented six incidents in which settlers attacked residents' homes in the village of Surif east of Hebron, damaged agricultural property and hurt residents.
