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.
Al-Maniyah, Bethlehem District: Israeli settlers grazed sheep on privately owned Palestinian land, chased a flock in a truck and attacked the landowner in front of a soldier
The settlers chasing a-Tarawah’s sheep in the black pickup truck. Still from video footage, courtesy of a-Tarawah
On Saturday morning, 25 May 2024, Ahmad a-Tarawah (39) and a friend were grazing their sheep on their agricultural land, when eight settlers escorted by two soldiers showed up. The settlers told a-Tarawah the land was theirs, and after an argument broke out, Civil Administration personnel arrived and confirmed a-Tarwah was allowed to graze his sheep there.
A-Tarawah returned to pasture with another shepherd at 4:00 P.M. that day, but the same eight settlers came back in a black pickup truck, some armed with clubs and one with a rifle. A-Tarawah called the DCO, and four soldiers arrived and told both the settlers and the Palestinians to leave the area and keep out of it until the ownership issue was clarified.
When the two shepherds made their way out of the area, the settlers chased after their flock. At some point, Civil Administration personnel and soldiers arrived, and then the settlers got out of the vehicle. One of them pushed a-Tarawah, while holding pepper spray in one hand. He then picked up a rock with the other hand and struck a-Tarawah’s face with it, hurting his nose and causing it to bleed. One of the soldiers demanded that the settlers leave, and they did. The soldiers also left after suggesting a-Tarawah call an ambulance and file a complaint with the police.
He went home, and from there to a hospital in Bethlehem, where he was treated, given painkillers, and discharged.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Basel al-Adrah on 28 May 2024, Ahmad a-Tarawah, 39, a father of five, said:
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Ahmad a-Tarawah after being attacked. Photo courtesy of a-Tarawah
My wife and I live in tents east of the al-Maniyah area and south of the city of Bethlehem. We have three daughters and two young sons. I make a living from shepherding, and I have a flock of about 50 sheep that I keep in a pen located 500 meters north of our residential tent.
In early December 2023, a settler showed up and settled on the hilltop across from it, about 700 meters away. He put up a tin structure [a shipping container], brought sheep, built huts for them, and started letting them graze on our private lands, where we grow wheat and barley. His sheep consumed hundreds of dunams of our wheat and barley.
On Saturday morning, 25 May 2024, while a local shepherd and I were grazing our sheep on our land, eight settlers armed with clubs and escorted by two soldiers showed up. One of the settlers said that the land was theirs and we weren’t allowed to enter it. I told him: “This land is mine.” After an argument that lasted about 40 minutes, a vehicle from the Israeli DCO, which I called, arrived, and the DCO personnel told the soldiers to remove the settlers. They told me I was allowed to graze on the land. We kept grazing for a few hours and went home.
Around 4:00 P.M., I went back to the land with another shepherd. We stayed there until around 6:00 P.M., and then the same eight settlers came back, some with clubs and one with a rifle, in a 4x4 pickup truck. I called the Israeli DCO, and an hour later, an army vehicle arrived with four soldiers inside. Until the soldiers arrived, the settlers kept circling among us. One of the soldiers asked me to step aside to talk to him. While we were talking about the land ownership, one of the settlers came up to us and told me that the land was his and I wasn’t allowed to enter it. I told him this was my land, and then the soldiers said that we, and the settlers as well, had to leave and that we weren’t allowed back on the land until eight o’clock the next morning, and in the meantime, they would look into the land ownership. They threatened that if we resisted, they would force us out, so we left with the sheep.
After we advanced 400 meters, the same eight settlers drove over and started chasing our flock in their pickup truck. I yelled at them and demanded they stop, but it didn’t help. They swore at us. I stood between their car and the sheep, so they wouldn’t run them over. I saw the military vehicle driving towards us in the fields. One of the settlers yelled at me and threatened: “I’ll take the sheep.” When the military vehicle arrived, it stopped in front of the settlers’ vehicle, and the soldiers demanded they back away.
We went on our way. After about 150 meters, the settlers chased us again. They all got out of the car, and one of them pushed, holding pepper spray in his hand. He picked up a stone from the ground with his other hand. The soldiers came too. The settler hit me in the face with the stone, in front of one of the soldiers. My nose started bleeding, and I was in a lot of pain. The soldier told the settlers to leave and then suggested I get the first aid kit, but I told him I was fine. He suggested that I file a complaint against them, but I saw no point. Then they left, and I went home and then to Yamamah Hospital in Bethlehem, where they gave me painkillers, treated the bleeding, and discharged me.
