Wadi al-Hasin, Hebron city center: Settlers set fire to olive grove
15 May 2022 · Views: 2,849
On Sunday, 15 May 2022, at around midday, members of the Abu S’eifan family from the Wadi al-Hasin neighborhood in the Hebron city center noticed about 15 settlers setting fire to their olive grove, which lies near the wall dividing the neighborhood from the settlement of Kiryat Arba. The family members tried to put out the fire with a blanket and water, and only after it consumed several olive trees did an Israeli firetruck arrive and put out the flames. None of the settlers were arrested. The torching of the grove was captured on the family’s security cameras.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari, Jamal Abu S’eifan, 51, recounted:
My niece came to us, screaming that settlers had set fire to the olive grove. I went out right away with my brother Hussni, and we saw that many trees were burning. We saw 10 teenagers aged 13 to 15 from the settlement and four settlers in their forties standing on the wall above the grove. The teens were singing and dancing while the trees burned. We put out some of the fire with a blanket and water. An Israeli firetruck arrived, and the firefighters put out the fire, which was still burning. Two officers also arrived in a police car and asked us who had set the fire. We told them that the settlers had set it, and they demanded to see my ID card. I gave it to them, and they checked it, gave it back to me and left. The firetruck also left at the same time. Some of the olive trees in our grove were burned, and my brother and I got slightly burned.
- Damage to property (agricultural)