On Thursday, 4 May 2023, at around 9:00 A.M., four masked settlers, some armed with clubs and a razor blade, grazed a flock of sheep on land belonging to the Makhamreh family from the community of Maghayir al-‘Abid in Masafer Yatta. ‘Iz a-Din Makhamreh (19) arrived shortly after the settlers did with his own flock. The four settlers attacked him, one of them wounding the fingers of his left hand with the razor blade. The settlers kicked Makhamreh when he tried to escape, but he did manage to escape to a distance of about a hundred meters from them. In the meantime, the settlers threw stones at Makhamreh’s flock and wounded the animals with the blade. Makhamreh returned to his flock and fled with it but noticed three of the settlers were carrying a sheep and walking away. He later found out that they had left the sheep’s carcass in a cave in the area. Another sheep that had been hurt in the head by stones thrown by the settlers died of its wounds later that evening.
Makhamreh called his father, Shihadah Makhamreh (58), who called the police and arrived at the scene together with other family members, and the the settlers left. Soldiers and police officers who arrived at the scene took pictures of the injured sheep and forced the family to leave the area with the flock.
Two days later, on 6 May 2023, in the early afternoon, about 20 masked settlers came to the land with their flock and threatened members of the Makhamreh family, who had arrived with other residents, using wooden clubs. In the meantime, Israeli police and military forces arrived with Civil Administration personnel, at which point the settlers began beating and chasing the flock of sheep. When the Palestinian farmers tried to protect their flock, the soldiers fired live rounds in the air, and then they, too, chased the flock that ran away. The soldiers then arrested ‘Iz a-Din’s brother, Salah (30), who was released with no further action.
On 7 May 2023, in the early morning hours, about ten soldiers broke into ‘Iz a-Din Makhamreh’s home, handcuffed him and took him to a military camp in the settlement of Susiya, alleging he had attacked settlers. Makhamreh was kept in the camp’s yard, handcuffed and blindfolded, until morning. He was punched when he tried to pry his hands loose from the zip ties. During his interrogation, Makhamreh was ordered to confess to the attack and name other young men involved as a condition for release. Later that day, he was transferred to the Etzion detention facility, and after three days there, on 10 May 2023, he was taken to Ofer Prison, where he was brought before a military judge.
On 17 May 2023, Shihadah Makhamreh, ‘Iz a-Din’s father, went to the Kiryat Arba police station to file a complaint about the settler attack in his land on 6 May 2023, but on arrival, he was arrested for allegedly obstructing police officers in the execution of their duties, even though he was not present during the incident. He was released that day on condition that he would not access his land for 15 days. Makhamreh challenged the condition after his release, and it was revoked at a hearing held in a military court on 22 May 2023. Makhamreh says the Israeli authorities revoked his son Salah’s Israeli work permit as a result of the incident.
‘Iz a-Din’s hearing concluded on 11 May 2023, and that night, at around 11:00 P.M., he was released in the Khirbet al-Jib area (Givat Ze’ev checkpoint) after his father posted NIS 4,000 (≈ USD 1,080) in bail. His father picked him up from the checkpoint at around 1:00 A.M., and they arrived home about two hours later.
This was the fourth settler attack on the community of Maghayir al-‘Abid documented by B’Tselem since July 2021. Residents of Masafer Yatta are subjected to repeated settler attacks. This violence is integral to the abusive treatment Palestinians living in the South Hebron Hills in general, and Masafer Yatta, in particular, routinely suffer at the hands of the authorities as part of the effort to drive them out of the area and their homes. The settlers file complaints, and community members are taken into custody, brought before a military court, then released after signing an undertaking or posting bail, having been found guilty of nothing.
B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari collected testimonies from ‘Iz a-Din Makhamreh and his father on 14 May 2023:
'Iz a-Din Makhamreh (19):
Our land covers an area of 154 dunams (1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters), and our uncles have another 500 dunams in the same area in Maghayir al-‘Abid. About 40 days ago, a settler set up an outpost about 150 meters from their land. He installed a shed and brought a flock of 100 sheep and three camels, and ever since, settlers have been grazing their flocks on our lands and letting them eat our wheat and barley crops. They broke the fence around our eight-dunam olive grove, and they let their sheep loose there. They’ve also taken over a water cistern my grandfather dug more than 40 years ago, which we use to water the sheep.
On Sunday, 30 April 2023, at around 2:00 P.M., I was grazing a flock of approximately 250 of our sheep on our land, and then a settler approached me, asked if I spoke Hebrew, and when I said I didn’t, he told me in Arabic that I had to get out of there right away and that if I came back, he’d send people to attack me and my sheep. Then he left, and I stayed there for another three hours and continued to graze the sheep despite his threats.
On Thursday, 4 May 2023, at around 9:00 A.M., I went there with the sheep, and the same settler was there with three other settlers and a flock of about 70 sheep they were grazing on our land. They said something in Hebrew that I didn’t understand, and then the same settler pulled a club out of his pants and tried to hit me, but I managed to knock it out of his hand. One of the settlers grabbed me by the back of the neck and tried to strangle me, and then the first settler pulled out a razor blade and started wounding my hands. He injured the fingers of my left hand. They knocked me down to the ground and kicked me all over my body until, at one point, I managed to get up and run away. I got about a hundred meters away and watched from a distance as the settlers threw big stones at my sheep, and the settler who wounded me wounded some of them. I went back there and started driving the sheep away, and I saw that one of them was bleeding heavily from the head. I saw the settlers walking away with one of our sheep. I called my father and told him what happened. I asked him to call the Israeli police.
After about half an hour, two Israeli activists arrived, and at the same time, four other settlers came and tried to attack them with clubs, but they ran away when they saw my father, brothers and cousins arriving together. After some time, a military jeep arrived, and my father spoke to the officer and told him that the settlers attacked me and our sheep. The officer told him there was nothing he could do and that we should wait until the police arrived.
After about an hour, two police officers came, and I told them what happened. Just then, a farmer who was working in the area came and said he saw the settlers dumping the sheep they’d stolen in a cave in the area and told me where it was. I went there and found the sheep’s carcass. It had been wounded so many times it was covered in blood. I gave the police officer a statement about them killing it, and he took a picture of it and also of the wounded sheep that was bleeding from the head. Then the police officer ordered me to leave the area with the flock, so we did, even though the first settler, who’d wounded the sheep, was still there.
In the evening, the sheep they wounded in the head also died. Another sheep that was wounded in the leg couldn’t step on it.
Two days later, on Saturday, 6 May 2023, I went with my father to graze the sheep on our land in the early afternoon. My cousins were also grazing their sheep in the area. Suddenly, 20 masked settlers showed up and started threatening us with clubs. They demanded we take our flock and leave. In the meantime, some more landowners from the area arrived and got into a verbal confrontation with the settlers. Then, about five military jeeps and a Civil Administration jeep arrived. The settlers beat the sheep, and while the farmers tried to protect them, a soldier fired in the air, and the sheep got scared and scattered. Some young guys who came to the area threw stones at the settlers and the soldiers, and then a soldier fired several live rounds at them. At one point, the soldiers pounced on my brother, Salah (30), handcuffed him, blindfolded him and put him in a jeep that drove away. He was released that night.
We were scared we’d get hurt, so at around 5:00 P.M., we took the flock and moved a little farther away. The soldiers let the settlers stay.
The next day, 7 May 2023, at around 4:00 A.M., while my parents, my sisters, and I were sleeping in the cave where we live, I was woken up by noise, and suddenly, I saw a soldier inside the cave. He grabbed my undershirt in the shoulder area and pulled me out of bed, and then I saw there were about ten other soldiers with him. The soldier tied my hands with zip ties and demanded that I give him my phone. I told him I didn’t know where I’d left it, and the soldiers searched, found it and took it. They took me outside, shirtless, even though it was really cold, and put me in their jeep.
They took me to the outpost of Havat Ma’on, where they transferred me to another vehicle that took me to the Susiya camp, where they had me sit in the yard. My hands were still tied, and they put a blindfold on too. I asked them to loosen the zip ties, which they pulled very tightly, and I said that I was very cold, but they ignored me. I asked why they even arrested me, and a soldier answered that it was because I attacked the settler and that if I confessed to the attack, they would let me go. I told him that the settler was a liar and that he was the one who attacked my family and our sheep. The soldier answered me in Arabic: “If that’s the case, stay here and shut up.”
They left me outside, shivering cold, until the morning hours. My whole body hurt, especially my wrists, from the zip ties. From time to time, I shouted at the soldiers out of anger and frustration. At one point, I managed to free my hands from the zip ties, but then four soldiers pounced on me, threw me on the floor and punched me. Then they handcuffed me again and took me in their jeep to the police station in Kiryat Arba. They put me in an interrogation room, and an interrogator came in and introduced himself in Arabic as ‘Iz a-Din. He accused me of attacking the settler “Sami” and said he filed a complaint against me. I denied this claim, and the interrogator showed me photos of the clashes between the young men and the soldiers and said that if I wanted to be released, I should give him the names of the young men. I told him I didn’t know any of them.
The interrogation lasted about half an hour, and then they took my picture and fingerprints.
In the evening, they drove me to Etzion prison and put me in a cell where there were two other young men.
I stayed in Etzion until 11 May 2023, and then, at around 3:00 P.M., I was taken to a hearing at the military court in Ofer Prison, where I was accused of attacking settlers. I was taken back to prison at about 6:00 P.M., and then, at around 11:00 P.M., a guard came and told me I was being released on bail of NIS 4,000 (≈ USD 1,080). I later found out my father had posted bail. I was driven in an Israel Prison Service car to Khirbet al-Jib (Givat Ze’ev Checkpoint) in the Ramallah area, and they let me go there. I didn’t know where I was until I asked some people who were there and also asked them to call my father and let him know I was there. One of them called him, and around 1:00 A.M., my father picked me up from there. We got home around 3:00 A.M.
They haven’t given me my cell phone back to this day.
Shihadah Makhamreh (58), a father of ten, including ‘Iz a-Din, said in his testimony:
Since the Civil Administration demolished our homes in Maghayir al-‘Abid a few years ago, we’ve been living in caves in the area. I live there with my mother Nuzhah (80), my wife Izdihar (52), and our children: Salah a-Din, and his wife and three children, Musleh (25) and his wife and two children, ‘Iz a-Din (19), Randah (22), Rasha (16) and Shahd (14).
On Thursday, 4 May 2023, at around 9:00 A.M., ‘Iz a-Din went out with about 200 head of sheep to graze them on our land, which is 200 meters away from the house. After about twenty minutes, he called and told me that there were settlers on our land and that they were attacking him and the flock. He asked me to call the police. I called and then went to the land right away with some relatives. When we got there, I saw the settlers chasing the sheep as ‘Iz a-Din was trying to get the flock away from there. They were also wounding sheep with a sharp object. In the meantime, two Israeli activists arrived and then about four settlers threatened the activists with clubs, but when they saw us coming, they ran away.
At the same time, an Israeli army jeep arrived. I told the officer in the jeep what happened, but he said he couldn’t do anything and that I should wait for the police. After an hour or so, when the police arrived, one of the farmers from the area said he saw settlers dump one of our sheep in a cave. He showed us where the cave was, and ‘Iz a-Din went and took it out of there. It was dead and still bleeding, and there were blade wounds on it. The police officer took a statement from ‘Iz a-Din and took pictures of the sheep that died and another sheep that was wounded in the head.
The settlers who attacked ‘Iz a-Din and the flock were still there, but the officer ordered us to leave and take our flock away. We tried to let the sheep drink from a water cistern, but the soldiers demanded that we leave and threatened to arrest us if we didn’t. They chased the flock until we were forced to leave.
In the evening, the sheep they wounded in the head also died, and two others miscarried.
The next day was Friday, and it’s a day the police doesn’t let Palestinians file complaints, so I didn’t go there.
On Saturday, 6 May 2023, I went out with our relatives to graze the flock on our lands, and we found about 20 masked settlers there. They threatened us with clubs to leave the land and then started arguing with other farmers who came there. In the meantime, about five military jeeps and three police cars arrived, as well as another Civil Administration jeep. I tried to talk to the Civil Administration officer and told him this was our land and our water well, and asked him why they let the settlers kick us out and prevented us from letting our sheep drink from our water well. He answered me in Arabic that the situation had changed and that the lands belonged to the state and had been leased to the settlers, and that the water cistern also belonged to the settlers. What he said really upset me, and I told him that we would not leave the land and would not leave it to the settlers.
As that was happening, one of the settlers started chasing our flock and hitting the animals with a club, and the shepherds tried to get the flock away. Then, one of the soldiers fired in the air, and the soldiers started chasing the flock and driving it from the land. The young guys threw stones at the soldiers and settlers, and then the soldiers fired live rounds at the young guys and farmers. Then I saw the soldiers handcuff and blindfold my son Salah. They put him in a jeep that left the area.
The soldiers managed to drive us all away from the land, and by 5:00 P.M., we were gone, while the settlers and the military stayed there.
Salah was released in the evening.
At around 4:00 A.M., about ten soldiers came into our home, the cave, while my wife, ‘Iz a-Din, my daughters and I were asleep. Suddenly I saw one of the soldiers grab ‘Iz a-Din by his undershirt and violently pull him out of bed. The soldier tied his hands with zip ties. The soldiers looked for ‘Iz a-Din’s cell phone, found it and took it, and then they took ‘Iz a-Din, half-naked, to the jeep, even though it was cold outside, and drove away.
It was only after three days that we found out from the lawyer that ‘Iz a-Din was at Etzion Prison, that he’d be taken to a hearing at the Ofer Military Court on Wednesday, and that he was being accused of assaulting settlers and injuring one of them in the head with a stone. The hearing continued on Thursday, and then I found out from the lawyer that he was set a bond of NIS 4,000 (≈ USD 1,080) that had to be paid to have him released.
That night (11 May 2023), ‘Iz a-Din called me around midnight. He said the soldiers left him near Khirbet al-Jib in the Ramallah area. I borrowed a car from a family member and went to pick him up within an hour. We got home around 3:00 A.M. ‘Iz a-Din told me the soldiers didn’t give him back his phone when they let him go.
On Tuesday, 9 May 2023, settlers grazed their flock in our olive grove and wheat and barley fields and Israeli activists who went there filmed them.
On 17 May 2023, I called the lawyer and updated her, and she suggested that I file a complaint at the Kiryat Arba police station and give them the footage. I went to the station. They kept me waiting outside for about four hours, and only then, a police officer in civilian clothes opened the door for me, and I was taken to an interrogation room. I told the interrogator I’d come to file a complaint against the settlers, and he answered that I came to file a complaint in order to dodge my responsibility for attacking the settlers. I denied it and told him the settlers were the ones attacking our family members and grazing their sheep in our pasturelands. The interrogator replied that I was suspected of threatening security and interfering with the soldiers in the execution of their duties in order to allow the Palestinians to harm the settlers, and then he arrested me.
The interrogator showed me photos of people and demanded I say who they were. The interrogation took about two hours, and then they took my picture and fingerprints. The interrogator told me to call a lawyer, and I called our lawyer and told her I was under arrest. She called the police, protested my arrest and told the interrogator she had proof the settlers were the ones who attacked us and our property.
At around 9:00 P.M., I was released with a summons for a court hearing at Ofer Prison two days later. At the hearing, they issued a restraining order to keep me away from the land for 15 days. My lawyer protested the decision. Besides that, they also revoked my son Salah’s Israeli work permit - he’d worked construction - saying there was a security preclusion. In the meantime, the settlers continue grazing their sheep on our crops,
and we are not allowed to go to our lands.
