Wadi al-A’war, South Hebron Hills: Israeli settlers stole a flock belonging to Palestinians and pepper-sprayed a family

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On Friday, 27 March 2026, at around 4:00 A.M., three masked settlers armed with clubs and pepper spray arrived at the home of the Idris family, in the Wadi al-A’war area in the South Hebron Hills. 
The settlers tried to break into the family’s home and, when they failed, broke windows and pepper-sprayed into the house. At the same time, one of the settlers opened the family’s sheep pen and stole about 30 sheep. The settlers then left the area.

After the settlers left, the family called the police. Several hours later, police officers arrived at the scene and advised them to file a complaint at a police station.

In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Nasser Nawaj’ah, Nur Idris, 44, a father of five, recounted:

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On Friday, 27 March 2026, at around 4:00 A.M., when I was at home with my family, including my mother, Safiyeh Idris, 76, I heard the sound of smashing from outside. I went to the window to see what was going on and saw three masked people armed with clubs. I yelled at them, and they went over to the front door and opened it. They started throwing stones, so I immediately locked the door, and they banged on it from the outside, smashed the window in the door and sprayed pepper spray inside, which caused my mother to choke.

I called an ambulance for my mother. Then I looked at the security camera monitor and saw that they had opened the door to the sheep pen and stolen 30 sheep. I called the police, but it took five hours for a patrol car to arrive. The officers looked at the scene and then suggested I file a complaint.”