On Sunday, June 1, 2025, at around 8:00 A.M., a settler took a herd of cattle into privately owned Palestinian farm fields. The cattle belongs to an outpost built in December 2024 about one kilometer northwest of the village of Bardalah. The fields, owned by Bardalah residents, lie in the agricultural area of the Qa‘un Plain, north of the village. The herd caused extensive damage to watermelon and other crops, including wheat and barley. Palestinian farmers at the scene tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade the settler, who was armed with an iron pipe, to remove the cattle.
Within a short time, three more settlers arrived, two on an ATV and one driving a tractor with a trailer. Two of them were armed with rifles, and another with a handgun and an iron pipe. The four settlers violently confronted the farmers and Israeli activists who had come to the site at the farmers’ request. A settler on an ATV tried to run over one of the activists. Two of the settlers repeatedly tried to hit Muhammad Suaftah, a 49-year-old farmer, with iron pipes, and although an Israeli activist attempted to separate them, they managed to strike him on the arm, back, and leg.
The activists tried in vain to call the police. When a military force arrived, the farmers showed the soldiers the title deeds to the land, at which point, the soldiers removed the settlers and their herd of cattle from the fields. However, they also ordered the farmers to leave their land.
Settlers have been letting the outpost’s cattle herd graze in the Palestinian farmers’ fields almost daily, causing severe damage to the crops.
