S.S., a father of six in his sixties from Halhul, described how settlers and the military deny his family access to the vineyards that are their livelihood
I live near the entrance to the a-Nabi Yunes area in the city of Halhul, together with my wife and four of our children. Two of our sons are married and live next to us with their families, and they work with me in agriculture. My widowed sister, 65, also lives with us. I own about 40 dunams (1 dunam = 0.1 hectares) of land, divided among several areas in the city of Halhul: Khirbet al-Qat, Dhahr al-Bu, Wadi a-Dur and Marah Jarad. All these plots have vineyards and almond, pear and plum trees. I also have eight dunams of land I cultivate under a lease agreement (“daman land”) in Wadi Qabun, where there is a vineyard with fruit-bearing vines.
[The] settlers set up several outposts near our land. At the same time, the Israeli military put up several iron gates that block the roads leading to the land.
Since the events of 7 October 2023, we have been suffering at the hands of the settlers, but our suffering increased beginning in May 2025, when settlers set up several outposts near our land. At the same time, the Israeli military put up several iron gates that block the roads leading to the land. In addition, the settlers installed a gate in the al-‘Abarah area, which is the access point to thousands of dunams of land, and it’s permanently closed, so it’s impossible to enter with a tractor to plow.
The settlers have also blocked the roads leading to farmland with dirt mounds and barbed wire. They’ve started invading the land, destroying the fences, toppling the stone terraces and uprooting the gates. They also graze their flocks in our crops and let them eat the vines; they chase after the farmers, attack them and drive them off their land.
On 25 August 2025, settlers cut the fence surrounding my land in the Dhahr al-Bu area, uprooted two gates, cut the grape clusters and scattered them on the ground. They also cut down more than 50 vines.
We sneak into our land like thieves, in the early morning hours or late at night, to work it. If the settlers discover us, they violently attack us, and sometimes soldiers also arrest our sons.
We sneak into our land like thieves, in the early morning hours or late at night, to work it. If the settlers discover us, they violently attack us, and sometimes soldiers also arrest our sons.
In 2025, I made no profits at all from the grape leaf harvest season, which usually brings in a lot of money and makes up for the heavy expenses of preparing the land, pest control, fertilizing and plowing. We’ve also managed to harvest only about 30% of the grape crop because of settler attacks carried out with support and protection from the Israeli military. The police did nothing to stop them, and sometimes even took their side. After the settlers and soldiers drove us off the land, both the soldiers and the police told us we weren’t allowed to go back there. The money I put into fertilizing the land, plowing, workers’ wages, spraying devices and additional equipment came to more than 30,000 ILS (~ 9,850 USD).
In the land I have in the Wadi a-Dur area, 22 dunams, we sneak in at dawn and prune the trees before the settlers discover us. When they do, they drive us out at gunpoint and threaten to kill us if they find us there again.
Because we had no way to tend the vines and trees, prune, weed, and harvest the grapes that were left on the vines from the previous year, three dunams of grapevines were damaged, and the vines there died.
In the land I have in the Wadi a-Dur area, 22 dunams, we sneak in at dawn and prune the trees before the settlers discover us. When they do, they drive us out at gunpoint and threaten to kill us if they find us there again.
As soon as we reached the land, about 30 settlers attacked us. Some of them were armed, and others carried batons, sticks and pepper spray canisters, all in full view of soldiers.
On 17 April 2026, at around 3:00 P.M., I went down with my sons, a few other farmers and Israeli activists, to the land in Wadi a-Dur and Dhahr al-Bu. As soon as we reached the land, about 30 settlers attacked us. Some of them were armed, and others carried batons, sticks and pepper spray canisters, all in full view of soldiers.
The settlers attacked us, pepper-sprayed us and beat us with batons for about 15 minutes. When we tried to defend ourselves, the soldiers attacked us too, pushed us, beat us and moved us away from the settlers. About four Israel Police cars also arrived, and the officers arrested the Israeli activists. They also detained my sons for about two hours and beat them before releasing them.
About ten days ago, we tried to reach the land I have in the Marah Jarad area, about four dunams with grapevines and apricot trees, but a settlement guard in the area stopped us, pointed his gun at us, threatened to shoot us and drove us away from the site. After we left, the settlers installed an iron gate and blocked the road leading to it.
I’m worried I will lose this season as well if they continue preventing my sons and me from accessing our land, picking the grape leaves and harvesting the grapes. We look forward to these agricultural seasons every year with great anticipation, because they are the primary source of livelihood for dozens of families. Losing the season’s income means sinking into debt and being unable to pay it off.
I don’t know by what right the settlers are allowed to take over our land, which we inherited from our fathers and grandfathers decades ago.
- Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 29 April 2026