Agriculture

Settlers, including head of Kiryat Arba-Hebron local council, harass Palestinian family in Hebron, vandalize crops as soldiers and police officers stand by

22 October 2013

'Ata and Rodayna Jaber live with their four children on a hill in an area called al-Baq'ah, about 300 meters south of the entrance to the settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron. They eke out a living from selling vegetables that they grow on the land around their house.

In July 2013, their 19-year-old daughter Amaneh, a volunteer in B'Tselem's camera distribution project, filmed two incidents in which settlers uprooted the family's crops and planted their own instead. The video footage of both cases shows Israeli police officers and soldiers standing nearby, yet doing nothing to stop the vandalism.

Friday, 12 July 2013:

At midday, the Jabers were at home. Shortly after 1:00 P.M., they noticed a police car approaching. The father, 'Ata Jaber, described what followed in his testimony to B'Tselem field researcher Manal al-Jaabri:

'Ata Jaber. Photo: Yoav Gross, B'TselemI saw two policemen get out of the car. A few minutes later, Moshe Levinger's son [Malachi Levinger, head of the Kiryat Arba-Hebron local council] came by the house, with a few other settlers. One of them was holding a cardboard box with seedlings. When I saw the settlers, I asked the policemen to stop them from coming any closer, but they ignored me.

The settler put the box down on the ground about ten meters away from my house. He picked up a hoe that we had lying by the entrance to the house and started digging up the sprouts of the beans, black-eyed peas, peppers and potatoes that I'd planted about two months ago for the purpose of sale. Instead of our plants, which hadn't yet developed and ripened, he planted the seedlings that he'd brought with him.

The policemen saw what he was doing, but didn't intervene or keep him from uprooting our plants. My wife asked the policemen to keep the settlers from harming the rest of our plants, but they ignored her. One of them answered her in Hebrew, saying, "I don’t speak Arabic".

At some point, a jeep with some Border Police officers drove up. They didn't try to stop the settlers, either. I called the Civil Administration and, about an hour later, a vehicle of their arrived on the scene. I saw the Civil Administration officer talking with Levinger's son, and then the settlers stopped planting their seedlings.

The next day, I went to the Palestinian Police and filed a complaint. They promised me that they’d communicate my complaint to the Israelis.

Tuesday, 16 July 2013:

At midday on Tuesday, four days after the above incident, Malachi Levinger, head of the Kiryat Arba-Hebron local council, returned to the Jabers’ home with a group of settlers. 19-year-old Amaneh Jaber described the incident to B'Tselem field researcher Musa Abu Hashhash:

Amaneh Jaber. Photo: Yoav Gross, B'TselemA group of adults and kids came over to our house. They went over to the plot near the house and started uprooting our plants, replacing them with seedlings that they had brought with them. I was at home with my two sisters, my brother and my mother. My father wasn't home. I got the video camera and started filming through a window. Some of the settlers saw me and started throwing stones at the window in order to scare me and make me stop filming. The stones didn't hit me and I kept on filming.

While some of the settlers were busy with the planting, the others came up to the house. They tried to cover the windows with cloths and bits of wood so that I wouldn't be able to film them.

About an hour later, two military vehicles drove up to the house. The soldiers talked to the settlers for a few minutes and left. They came back about half an hour later with an officer from the Civil Administration. In the meantime, the settlers continued uprooting our plants and planting their own instead. A short while later, a police car drove up, too. The settlers stayed near the house for a little longer, and then left.

My father got home just as they left. We had phoned him earlier to tell him what was going on, and he'd hurried back. He was very upset – he was running and collapsed in front of the house. We were very worried about him. The soldiers took care of him and brought him into the house. About half an hour later, a Palestinian ambulance arrived. The paramedics treated my father at home and left, after they made sure that he was all right.

The documented presence of law enforcement authorities – Israeli police, military and the Civil Administration – while settlers vandalized the Jabers’ property, along with their refusal to take steps to stop the vandalism and arrest the perpetrators, are yet another serious example of how Israeli security forces shirk their duty to protect Palestinians in the West Bank from settler violence.

Since Israeli police officers were present while the vandalism took place, the family saw no point in filing a complaint with the Israeli police. On 13 July, the day after the first incident occurred, the family filed a complaint with the Palestinian Police, which was supposed to communicate the complaint to the Israeli police. Accordingly, B'Tselem inquired with the Israeli police in Hebron whether it had begun investigating the incident. The police replied to B’Tselem by phone on 17 July 2013, saying that they had not yet received the complaint from the Palestinian police, and that the forwarding of such complaints usually takes a long time. B'Tselem will continue to monitor the police handling of the matter.

In addition, B'Tselem wrote to the military regarding the soldiers' lack of action in both incidents. Since the beginning of 2013, B'Tselem has written to the Central Command and to the Military Advocate for Operational Matters regarding six incidents in which soldiers stood by while settlers acted violently towards Palestinians. Investigations were launched in two of the incidents; no decision has yet been reached as to whether to investigate the remaining four.

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Olive trees uprooted by settlers in Al-Khader, Bethlehem district. Photo courtesy of farmer

Settler Violence = State Violence

Israel used the Gaza war to impose extreme restrictions on the annual West Bank olive harvest

The annual olive harvest in the West Bank is a key element of the Palestinian economy and a crucial source of income for tens of thousands of families. The World Bank and the Palestine Trade Center estimate that in good years, it injects almost 200 million dollars into the Palestinian economy. However, every year, Israel extensively restricts Palestinians’ ability to carry out the harvest, using official and unofficial means. In 2023, while the war in the Gaza Strip was underway, these restrictions reached new heights, leaving about 50% of Palestinian farmers unable to harvest their trees, according to estimates of the Palestinian Farmers’ Union.The main official measure Israel uses is the “coordination” system, conceived as the military’s response to settler violence against Palestinian harvesters. Instead of dealing directly with assaults by settlers, the military places the onus on Palestinians, demanding they coordinate access to their land in advance – ostensibly so soldiers can be sent to protect them. In practice, this system limits the harvest or prevents it altogether. Harvesting all the olives takes weeks, but the military enables farmers access to their trees for several days only. This means they are unable to harvest the entire crop or prepare the land for winter crops. At the same time, this system does not stop settler violence. Soldiers often do not show up despite prior “coordination” with the military; when they do, they do not prevent or stop the violence, often even joining in.In recent years, the Civil Administration allocated every community three days a year to harvest olives. This year, immediately after the war in Gaza broke out, even these few days were canceled. Several alternative dates were set, but bowing to pressure from settlers, the military canceled some of these as well, for example near the settlements of Elkana, Sha’arei Tikva and Etz Efrayim.The head of the Burin village council, Ibrahim ‘Umran, told B’Tselem that about 12,000 dunams (1,200 hectares) of village farmland, which covers two-thirds of all the village’s land, lie within Area C. On about 1,000 dunams (100 hectares) of these are olive groves with 16,000 trees. Residents were allocated two days to harvest their olives, on 25 and 26 October 2023, and both were canceled once the war broke out. ‘Umran says about 70% of village residents rely on income from the harvest and lost tens of thousands of shekels meant to support them throughout the year. As the expected income was slated for expenses such as rent, home construction, university tuition and the like, the restrictions this year have impacted them directly.1“Coordination” is also required for farmland that remains cut off on the other side of the Separation Barrier. The head of the ‘Akkabah village regional council, Taysir ‘Amarneh, told B’Tselem that local residents own about 2,500 dunams (250 hectares) of farmland west of the barrier, which they used to access daily through a gate in the fence. When the war broke out, the gate was closed. Residents were allocated three “coordination” days in late November, only after negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian DCOs. This did not give residents enough time to harvest olives for private use, let alone complete the harvest, severely hurting their livelihoods.2Unofficially, harvesters are obstructed by settlers’ violent assaults. These attacks are permitted and backed by the military, with soldiers often takin part. For years, settler violence against Palestinians has peaked during the harvest season, yet Israeli authorities consistently refrain from taking preventive action as a matter of policy. This year, with the war in Gaza underway, the military has enlisted many settlers for regional operations in the West Bank. The settlers have used this power to block roads leading to Palestinian land and to set up roadblocks on agricultural roads, denying Palestinians access to olive groves near settlements.Settler attacks on harvesters have increased in both intensity and frequency since the war began. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations (OCHA), from the beginning of the war to mid-January, more than 440 incidents of settler violence took place – with scores of these assaults directed at olive harvesters. These incidents included settlers physically assaulting harvesters, uprooting large olive groves, vandalizing groves by breaking branches, sawing off trunks and torching trees, and stealing olives. Many of the attacks were carried out in the presence of Israeli forces. Settlers also threatened to harm harvesters on social media.The head of the ‘Awarta village council, Sa’ed ‘Awwad, told B’Tselem the village has about 2,000 dunams (200 hectares) of land, located near the settlement of Itamar, that the military does not allow residents to access without prior “coordination”. This year, residents were allocated only one day for harvesting, starting at 8:00 A.M. On the scheduled day, ‘Awwad was informed the start time had been pushed back two hours. When the residents arrived at their land, they found about 20 settlers harvesting their olive trees with several soldiers standing guard. They tried unsuccessfully to put an end to the theft and eventually left at around 4:00 P.M., while the settlers were still picking their olives and vandalizing the trees.3This year, as in previous years, the police have not investigated these violent incidents. In the most severe incident in the 2023 harvest, on 27 October, a soldier from the settlement of Rehelim on military leave killed Belal Salah, 40, a resident of a-Sawiyah, while he was harvesting his family’s olive trees. The soldier, who was suspected of reckless homicide and illegal use of a firearm, was released after a short time in detention and returned to his unit.This Israeli policy has caused immediate financial harm to tens of thousands of Palestinian families. For instance, the olive press in the village of al-Mughayir, which also serves the villages of Kafr Malik, Turmusaya, Abu Falah and Duma, produced only 20% of the average annual output this year – 60 tons of olive oil instead of 300 tons. The olive press at al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah produced only 500 kilograms of olive oil this year, instead of 150 tons.The 2023 harvest was especially important this year as the Palestinian economy is already struggling due to the war in Gaza – particularly because of the prohibition on laborers entering Israel and the Palestinian Authority’s suspension of public sector salaries.The systemic obstruction of the olive harvest this year, augmented by organized settler violence against harvesters and their property, is not unique to this time of war. It is part of Israel’s longstanding violent policy, which aims to cement the apartheid regime in the West Bank and allow continued expansion of settlements. Bezalel Smotrich, who serves as Minister of Finance and Minister in the Ministry of Defense, and MK Tzvi Sukkot, Chair of the Knesset Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria Affairs, have already said “sterile security spaces” should be created near settlements, where Palestinians would be denied entry altogether. This would clear the way for the state to take over this land and use it for its own purposes.Testimonies:‘Abdallah Na’asan from the village of al-Mughayir told B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad:My family has more than 900 dunams of land with more than 8,000 olive trees on both sides of the Allon Route, which was always freely accessible all year round, and some near the outpost of Adei Ad, which you had to get “coordination” to access. We’d get between five and seven days of “coordination” each year. This year, after the war in Gaza started, Israel canceled everything. The army closed off all the entrances and agricultural roads, eight roads in total, with rocks and piles of dirt.We managed to sneak into our land a few times, but didn’t always evade the settlers’ aggression. They usually have a drone in the air and see anyone who tries to get close to the land. When they see us, they chase us or call the army, and then our equipment or vehicles are confiscated. So far, the army has confiscated two of our tractors.We put up a real fight through a village resident who works at the Palestinian DCO, and managed to get three days of “coordination” in early December to harvest the olives off the Allon Route. When we got there, we found all our fruit on the ground, which meant we couldn’t use it to produce edible oil or anything else because of the high acidity. Even if we wanted to make soap out of it, it would be very expensive and not profitable. That’s how we lost this season.In previous seasons, we produced about 40,000 kg a year from our land. Each kg sold in the market for NIS 30 (~ USD 8). We would sell in the village or on the Palestinian market, and would also export some to the United States. All that gave us a nice income. But this year, we made nothing. We didn’t even manage to pick olives for our own use, which means we’ll have to buy some to make up for the shortfall. On the other hand, we racked up a lot of costs cultivating the olives, buying fertilizers and pesticides and plowing – a total of about 300,000 NIS (~ USD 81,750). On top of that, we have labor costs. Every year, more than 30 laborers work for us during the harvest season. They also lost their income this year and were hurt. They support at least 150 people. We have 10 other laborers who work for us year round, and they were also hurt.After October 7, settlers destroyed our trees and lands. We saw the settlers from the shepherding farms spread out in the eastern part of the village setting their flocks to graze in our groves. The sheep ate the leaves and branches and destroyed them. That make the trees dry up and die, and it can two to three years for the trees to recover. We found out that bulldozers belonging to the settlers were used to rake our land near the Adei Ad outpost, where we have about 400 trees. When we went to file a complaint with the Binyamin police, a Jewish interrogator asked my uncle how we managed to take photos of the settlers, as if we were guilty.We also have an olive press which we started in the village in 2010. We work with farmers from al-Mughayir and the surrounding villages, such as Kafr Malik, Turmusaya, Abu Falah and Duma. The olive press’ operating cycle was always synced with the harvest season for 50 days, averaging 10 hours of work a day. It produced six tons of oil a day. We produced about 300 tons of oil in a season. This year, the olive press barely worked. We only managed to produce 60 tons of oil, which is about 20% of the normal annual output. Wasim Ladadwah from al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah told B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad:There are about 100 people in my extended family and we own about 450 dunams of land, half of them olive groves. Unfortunately, our groves are close to the settlements of Nahaliel, Kerem Re’im, Talmon and Haresha. During the current harvest season, we couldn’t harvest the trees because soldiers and settlers – some in army uniforms – wouldn’t let us get to them.On 11 October 2023, residents of the town, including my family, tried to access the olive groves close to the town. These lands are hundreds of meters away from the settlements, and no coordination was ever required to access them. But when we got closer, soldiers and settlers attacked us. There were about 30 of us, with women and children, and they threatened us with weapons and scared everyone. They destroyed some of the ladders and work tools we brought with us. Some of the farmers tried again to sneak into their groves, but those attempts failed too, because the army and the settlers are spread out day and night on the hilltops. The soldiers watch around the clock to follow farmers who try to get closer to their groves, including with drones. They shoot to scare them.Our loss is enormous. Each harvest season, we would produce about 250 cans of olive oil, each weighing 15 kg. In total, we would produce 3,750 kg of olive oil. Each kg costs NIS 40 (~ USD 10) on average. We lost it all, and that’s just our family. Everyone in the village lost a lot of money. I know this because I am a member of several committees in the village and an agricultural activist.The town has 14,200 dunams of land, 7,500 of them on the western side of town, which is surrounded by the settlements I mentioned earlier. That’s where our olive groves are. You could say that this year, more than 90% of the town’s olive oil production was stolen from us. The olive press in town usually produces about 10,000 cans of oil each harvest season, which is 150,000 kg of olive oil. This year, it produced only 500 kg of oil because the olives could not be harvested. We didn’t even produce enough for our own use this year, so we’ll have to buy that too, if we can even find oil on the market. After all, what happened to our town happened to all the towns and villages in the West Bank.Take me, for example. My family would produce 20 cans of oil each harvest. We’d consume four cans, which is 60 kilograms, and I would sell the rest. It was a significant income for us. This season, I was left with only three bottles, which are five kilograms. Some farmers were banking on the harvest season to finance the wedding of a son, or the construction of a house, or university studies. Other farmers, who are poor, waited for the harvest season because the income from it is their only source of livelihood, and they barely survive on that.The consequences of this crime also affect the olive trees themselves. Fruit left hanging on the trees rots and draws insects that damage the tree. This causes diseases that can dry out the tree, killing it. Leaving the fruit also greatly reduces the yield the following season, sometimes by half.

14 February 2024

Jamal Abu S’eifan in front of his home after his release. Photo: Manal al-Ja’bari, B'Tselem , 6 July 2023

Hebron City Center

Israeli settlers attack Palestinians in Hebron. Four Palestinians arrested by soldiers who participated in the attack and released within days without charge

On Friday, 30 June 2023, at around 8:30 P.M., scores of settlers descended on the neighborhood of Wadi al-Hasin, some armed with rifles, handguns and clubs, and threw stones at homes. One of the settlers fired several shots at one of the houses, hitting it. Some young men from the neighborhood threw stones at the settlers in an attempt to drive them away, at which point dozens of soldiers arrived, chased them and threw stun grenades at them, as the settlers continued their attack. Several soldiers entered one of the Palestinian homes that had been attacked, where the family was in the middle of an engagement party, and detained the guests for about twenty minutes. Jamal Abu S’eifan (52), a volunteer with B’Tselem, was injured in his right shoulder by a stone the settlers threw at him. He tried running back inside, and then two settlers assaulted him, knocking him to the ground. Three of his cousins - Nur (20), ‘Iz a-Din (21), and Wahib (22), managed to push the settlers off him. Jamal was filming this on his phone, and then one of the soldiers approached him, ordered him to stop filming and hit him with his weapon. The soldiers arrested Jamal and his three cousins and had them sit on the ground near the military watch tower for about two hours, blindfolded and handcuffed. From there, the four men were taken to the military base at Kiryat Arba, where they were kept overnight in a storage room, still blindfolded and handcuffed tightly with zip ties from behind. When they asked for a drink, the soldiers refused to give them water. In the morning, the four men were taken to the Kiryat Arba police station, where they were interrogated one by one, accused of assaulting settlers and soldiers and disrupting an investigation. While waiting to be interrogated, the men were kept outside in the scorching sun, still blindfolded and handcuffed from behind. The restraints and blindfolds were only removed during the interrogation. The soldiers refused to let the men have water during this time as well. Once the interrogations were over, the four men were taken back to the storage room at the military base. The next day, Sunday, 2 July 2023, Jamal was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with an infection in his shoulder. He was then taken to the Ofer Prison parking lot and transferred to a different jeep, where his cousins had been kept in the heat for several hours. This time, when the men asked for a drink, the soldiers gave them warm water. Wahib, who was suffering from burns to his back predating the arrest and worsened due to the harsh conditions in which he was kept, was released that day. Jamal, ‘Iz a-Din and Nur were taken to Ofer Prison, where they later received their first meal since being arrested two days earlier. The Military Court at Ofer held a hearing two days later, at the end of which the military judge remanded the men to custody for two more days, partly based on a classified report submitted by the police. All three were released with no further action the next day. This case is emblematic of the utter lack of protection for Palestinians: Settlers stage a violent attack on their homes, including the use of live fire against them, and ultimately, four Palestinians are arrested. They are then held for days, in harsh conditions, inside a military base and remanded to custody by a military judge, only to be released with no further action against them. None of this is an error or an accident. It is all part of Israel’s policy in the West Bank. B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari collected testimonies from members of the Abu S’eifan and al-Ja’bari families: Jamal Abu S’eifan (52), a volunteer with B’Tselem who was violently arrested by soldiers while documenting the incident, said: On Friday evening, 30 June 2023, I went with my wife Jihad (44) to my cousin Hussni’s house. He lives near us, and we were going to spend the last day of ‘Id al-Fitr with the family. At around 8:30 P.M., we heard five shots outside, and I saw, from the balcony, a large group of settlers spread out on the road near the a-Rajabi building. Ten of them were armed. They were attacking Mu’taz al-Ja’bari’s house, which is near Hussni’s. He was hosting a lot of people for his daughter’s engagement that night. Women were shouting, and you could hear ‘Allah Akbar’ being called out from the direction of the al-Ja’bari homes. We decided to stay out of it and stay inside, but a few minutes later, scores of settlers came up to Hussni’s house and tried to break the locks of the yard and then threw stones at the house. Suddenly, one of the settlers started shooting a gun at houses, so I decided to go home to get my camera. When I came out of Hussni’s house, one of the settlers suddenly threw a large stone at me that hit my right shoulder, and then two settlers, who looked to be in their late twenties, and one of whom was armed with a handgun, approached me and punched me until I fell to the ground. Several women from the family came out to help me, and three of my cousins, ‘Iz a-Din (21), Nur (20), and Wahib (22), managed to push the settlers away from me. Then soldiers came and started throwing stun grenades in our direction. ‘Iz, Nur and Wahib ran away, and I managed to get up and get back inside Hussni’s house. I took my phone (iPhone 11), went outside and started taking pictures of what was happening, and then a soldier who noticed I was filming told me it wasn’t allowed. I told him I was a volunteer with B’Tselem, and showed him my credentials, but he grabbed the card from my hand, took a picture of it and threw it on the floor. An officer who was there told him to pick up the card, so he took it, put it in his pocket and started trying to snatch the phone from my hand. Two other soldiers joined him and then he bent my arm backward and hit me hard in the arm with the butt of his rifle. The phone fell to the ground, and he took it. The soldiers held me and I writhed from the pain in my shoulder and arm. I saw some soldiers taking Wahib out of his grandmother’s house, and then they led us together towards the yard next to the military tower, where the children play soccer. I showed the soldiers my shoulder injury and told them I couldn’t move my arm. I asked them to call an ambulance, but they paid no attention, and handcuffed us both with zip ties (Wahib from behind and me from the front), and had us sit on the ground in the yard. We also told them Wahib had serious burns on his back from having scolding water spilled on him at work, but they paid no mind and wouldn’t stop cursing the two of us and B’Tselem. A while later, the soldiers brought ‘Iz and Nur, with their hands already tied behind their backs, and at some point, they blindfolded all four of us. Then they put us in a shipping container near the military tower. After about two hours, they took us out of there and started to lead us away. They led us purposely so that we would bump into concrete blocks on the way, and at some point, one of the soldiers banged my head into the edge of a military vehicle. They put the four of us in the same vehicle and drove us to a military camp in Kiryat Arba. When we arrived, they had us sit on the ground in the yard, blindfolded and handcuffed, and wouldn’t stop cursing us and B’Tselem. After about half an hour, we were taken into a room. I could see under the blindfold that it was some sort of storage room for rifles and walkie talkies. After about an hour, an officer who spoke Arabic came into the room, so I told him that I thought my arm was broken and that I couldn’t take the pain anymore. I showed him the shoulder injury and he brought me a pill, said it was a pain reliever, and then he left. We stayed in that room all night with nothing to eat or drink. My cousins suffered from the handcuffs which were very tight. At some point, I asked one of the soldiers to loosen their handcuffs, and he cursed all of us and tightened them even more. The next day (Saturday, 1 July 2023), at around 1:00 P.M., we were taken to the Kiryat Arba police station. We were kept sitting on the ground in the yard for several hours. It was still very hot that day and we were very thirsty. We asked the soldiers for water but they refused. At around 4:00 P.M., I was taken to an interrogation room. The interrogator spoke Hebrew and had an Arabic interpreter on the line with him. He accused me of assaulting soldiers, throwing stones at the settlers and disrupting the work of the military. He also said I wasn’t allowed in the area. I denied the accusations and told him I was a B’Tselem volunteer and that I was allowed to film. I showed him my shoulder and told him the settlers were the ones who attacked me and my family when we were in our homes. After about half an hour, a police officer came and took my fingerprints and a photo of me. I told him I was hungry and that we hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since we were arrested, and he ignored it and ordered for me to be taken out of the room. I was handcuffed again, blindfolded, and sent back to sit with my cousins in the yard outside. They were also taken one after the other for questioning. At around 10:00 P.M., we were taken to the military camp infirmary and the doctor advised the soldiers to take me to a hospital, but did not give us any treatment. Then, a Civil Administration officer who spoke Arabic came to the infirmary and I told him everything that happened. He told us to sign documents in Arabic, which said the soldiers did not attack us during the arrest. We signed them and he took the papers and said we would be released the next day, then left. After that, the soldiers took us back to the storage room, handcuffed and blindfolded. We stayed in the storage room until the next day (Sunday, 2 July 2023), and at around eight o’clock in the morning, I was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. At the hospital, they saw I had bruises and said my shoulder was infected too. They disinfected the wound in my shoulder and gave me antibiotics and the doctor also sent me to get an X-ray just to be sure. After that, the soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded me again and took me to Ofer Prison. At around 3:00 P.M., they put me in a car. ‘Iz, Nur and Wahib were already in it. It was terribly stuffy inside and they told me they had already been sitting inside for several hours. They were very thirsty and their hands hurt from the zip ties. I asked the soldiers for water and they brought us warm water. Wahib was really groaning in pain because of burns he got on his back two months earlier from boiling water that was spilled on him at work that hadn’t healed yet. They left us in the vehicle for another hour or so and then took us out and had us sit on the ground in the yard at Ofer Camp. Wahib, ‘Iz a-Din and Nur fell asleep for a while, and about an hour later, the soldiers put us in the vehicle again. A few minutes later, they took Wahib out and said they were taking him for treatment. The three of us stayed in the vehicle for two more hours and then they took us to Ofer Prison. The guards took off our handcuffs, ordered us to undress and strip searched us and then gave us prison uniforms to wear. Then they led us to Ward 14, and some of the detainees there gave us food. It was the first time we got food since we were arrested. The next day (Monday, 3 July 2023), at around 10:00 A.M., the guards took me to a visiting room and I met the lawyer there. I told her everything, and she said I would have a court hearing on Tuesday. Then the guards took me back to the ward. On Wednesday, around 7:00 in the morning, the guards took me, ‘Iz and Nur, with hands and feet tied, to the military court. At around 10:00 A.M., we were brought into the courtroom, where we saw my brother Hisham, my cousin Suliman and ‘Iz a-Din and Nur’s father, as well as some Australian activists who came to express solidarity. In the end, there was no hearing, and around 1:00 P.M., we were taken back to the ward at Ofer Prison. At around 4:30 P.M., the guards told us we were being released, and at around 9:00 P.M., they led us to the exit. They didn’t return our phones or the money ‘Iz had in his pant pockets, so I borrowed someone’s phone and called my wife, and she arranged for a taxi to take us home. * Testimony collected on 10 July 2023. Wahib Abu S’eifan, who was arrested with his cousin Jamal, was released after two days with no further action against him. In his testimony, he related: On Friday, 30 June 2023, around 8:00 P.M., I was at home, and suddenly I heard gunshots outside. I quickly went over the window overlooking our front yard and saw dozens of settlers walking on the dirt road leading up to the road that leads to the Kiryat Arba settlement and the a-Rajabi building where settlers live. I heard shouts of “Allah Akbar” and women’s screams coming from the direction of the al-Ja’bari homes, and then I saw about ten settlers, some armed, attacking Mu’taz al-Ja’bari’s house with stones. A few minutes later, they advanced towards our homes and started throwing stones at them and trying to open our gates. I put on shoes quickly and went out to the yard to make sure all my uncles and their families weren’t hurt. When I opened the door, I saw my cousin, Jamal, lying on the ground and three settlers about 25 to 30 years old, one of whom was armed with a handgun, beating and kicking him. I yelled at them to go, and then ‘Iz a-Din and Nur, my cousins who live near us, also arrived, and we pushed the settlers away from Jamal. In the meantime, dozens of soldiers arrived and started throwing stun grenades in our direction. We ran away from them and went into our grandmother’s house, but about ten minutes later, some soldiers broke into the house, and then two of them grabbed me by the neck, tied my hands behind my back with zip ties, tightened them tightly and took me out of the house. Outside, I saw Jamal filming what was happening on his phone. The soldiers led me to the yard next to the military tower and had me sit there on the ground. A few minutes later, they brought Jamal, too, in handcuffs and had him sit beside me. He was screaming in pain, and his right shoulder was bleeding. He showed it to the soldiers and asked them to call an ambulance, but they swore at him and at B’Tselem, where he volunteers. After that, they brought ‘Iz and Nur too, also in handcuffs already, and had them sit beside Jamal and me on the ground. The soldiers blindfolded al of us and then put us in the shipping container that’s next to the military watch tower and kept us there for two hours. After that they took us in a military vehicle to a military camp near the settlement of Kiryat Arba, and had us sit there, outside, on the ground, blindfolded and handcuffed, and wouldn’t stop cursing us and B’Tselem. We sat like that for about half an hour, until the soldiers took us into a room. I couldn’t really see what was inside it because they’d tied the blindfold really tight. We spent the whole night in this room, and I started feeling that the circulation in my arms was cut off because my hands were tied behind my back that whole time, and the handcuffs were really tight on my hands. Jamal called one of the soldiers and asked him to loosen our handcuffs a little, but the soldier only tightened them even more and cursed Jamal and B’Tselem. The next day (Saturday, 1 July 2023), at around 1:00 P.M., we were taken to the Kiryat Arba police station. When we got there, they left us in the car for about two hours. It was very hot that day, and we were already terribly thirsty and asked the soldiers to bring us water, but they refused. At around 4:00 P.M., they took Jamal for questioning, and we stayed inside the car, roasting in the heat. At some point, the soldiers took us out of the vehicle and had us sit on the ground in the yard. I was in terrible pain from burns I got when boiling water spilled on me at work about two months ago. After the soldiers brought Jamal back, they untied my handcuffs and took off my blindfold, then led me to an interrogation room as well. The interrogator spoke Hebrew and had someone translating into Arabic on the phone. The interrogator claimed I’d attacked the settlers and thrown stones at the soldiers, and that I was also in an area where I was not allowed to be. I denied the accusations, and told him about the settler attacks. I also showed him the marks on my wrists from the handcuffs. I also told him that I had burns on my back and that they got much worse because the soldiers kept us inside a boiling-hot vehicle for so long. I asked him to handcuff my hands in front from now on because my arms had gone numb from the pain. After that, they took my picture and fingerprints, and then one soldier handcuffed me, from the front this time, blindfolded me and took me back to the yard. At around 10:00 P.M., the soldiers took us to the military camp again and took us into the infirmary then. The doctor saw us but did not treat us, and then a Civil Administration officer came and spoke to Jamal. Jamal told him what happened, and he asked us to sign documents that said in Arabic that the soldiers did not attack us. We signed the documents and the officer said we’d be released the next day. After that, the soldiers took us back to the storage room, where we stayed all night, handcuffed and blindfolded. The next day (Sunday, 2 July 2023), at around 8:00 A.M. the soldiers took Jamal. I didn’t know where, but later it turned out that it was a hospital. After that, they put the three of us in a shuttle car, and left us inside it for a few hours. We were thirsty, hungry and very exhausted and felt suffocated in the intense heat. We were all suffering from pain in our wrists too, from the zip ties. After about four hours they suddenly put Jamal in the car. He told us they had taken him to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital and treated him there. The soldiers brought us warm water. We were so thirsty, we had to drink it. I told the soldiers I had burns on my back and that I couldn’t take the pain anymore. They swore at me and ordered me to be quiet. They kept us in the vehicle for another hour and then they took us out and had the four of us sit on the ground. I was so tired I fell asleep and so did some of the others. Then I was woken up by the sound of the soldiers, and they put us back in the vehicle. After about five minutes, one of the soldiers ordered me to get out, and he put me in a white car where there were three other soldiers. After that, the soldier asked me some questions about my back and I told him that I was in terrible pain and that I felt tearing. The vehicle drove for about half an hour until we stopped and the soldiers got off. A few minutes later, the soldiers came back with shawarma sandwiches and ate as the car drove. I was very hungry but they didn’t give me anything and just made fun of me. I couldn’t see where we were going because the blindfold was very tight. At some point we stopped and one of the soldiers took me out of the vehicle. They took off my blindfold and handcuffs and I found myself on the street that leads to my house in Wadi al-Hasin. The soldiers told me to go home so I started walking home. I was terribly thirsty, in pain and dizzy. When I got home the family welcomed me with joy. My mother cleaned the burns on my back and applied ointment, and then disinfected the wounds on my hands. I ate dinner and then fell asleep for a few hours. * Testimony collected on 10 July 2023 ‘Adlah al-Ja’bari, 51, a mother of 12, was hosting a dinner for about 100 people when settlers attacked her home and neighboring homes: My husband Mu’taz (56), who is a farmer and sheep dealer, and I live with eight of our 12 children in the Wadi al-Hasin neighborhood, near the main road that leads to the Kiryat Arba settlement, about 50 meters away from the a-Rajabi building where settlers live. On Friday, 30 June 2023, we hosted about 100 people to celebrate my daughter’s engagement. At around 8:00 P.M., while our guests were sitting in the yard, we heard a shout and then shots from the direction of the main road. There were about 50 men sitting in the yard and a similar number of women inside the house. We had at least 30 children over, and they all panicked and didn’t stop screaming and crying. My daughters and I tried to calm them down and gave them some candy. Thank God none of our guests were hurt. After about ten minutes, we saw a settler approaching the yard with an M-16 rifle in his hand, and then some of the young guests blocked his way into the yard. The settler pointed his rifle at the yard and the young men threw stones at him, and then he started shooting at our house. Two bullets went through two doors in my cousin Ghaleb’s apartment. The young men tried to drive away the settler who fired and others who’d joined him, and then dozens of soldiers started chasing them. The soldiers entered our house and detained all the women who wanted to escape inside. The men refused to obey the soldiers’ orders and stayed outside, and after about 20 minutes, we managed to convince the soldiers to let our guests go. Many of the guests hadn’t even eaten yet. In the meantime, dozens of settlers gathered outside. Some of them were armed. They walked towards the Abu S’eifan family homes, which are near the Kiryat Arba fence. They started attacking their houses with stones, and some of the young people from the family tried to drive them away. The soldiers chased them and threw stun grenades at them. The settlers continued attacking the houses with stones and I saw some soldiers taking some young people out of one of the houses. Then they handcuffed and blindfolded them. I saw that they arrested Jamal Abu S’eifan, who was trying to film what was happening, and also two of his cousins. After an hour and a half, the soldiers pushed the settlers away to the road and then they collected the shells that were left there into a bag. One officer asked me who fired, and I told him that the settlers did and attacked our houses, and my husband showed him the holes in Ghaleb’s door and wall. A police car came too, and the officers took pictures of the door and the wall with the holes. At around midnight everyone left. It wasn’t the first time settlers have attacked us, but this was the most violent and dangerous attack. We don’t feel safe anymore, and since Israel established a new government, the settlers walk around with weapons and don’t even hesitate to use them and shoot in our direction. Since then, we’ve been staying inside our homes with the children, mainly on the weekends, and we lock the doors until the settlers finish their festivities. * Testimony collected on 10 July 2023

9 August 2023

Old a-Shalala street. Beit Romano stands on the other side. Photo by Manal al-Ja’bari, B’Tselem, 3 Feb. 2022

Hebron City Center

Occupation routine in Hebron: Military ignores settlers’ repeated stone-throwing at Palestinians and harasses store owners

On Monday, 24 January 2022, around midday, about seven settlers gathered on rooftops in the settlement of Beit Romano in the city center of Hebron. They swore at Palestinian passers-by and threw stones and empty soda cans at them. A soldier who was watching them from one of the two observation posts in the settlement ignored their actions. The following day, at around 10:30 A.M., about 30 settlers gathered on the settlement’s rooftops and again threw stones at shops and passers-by. This time, the military observation posts were unmanned. The stones thrown by the settlers hit three people, smashed the windshields of three cars, and damaged the goods of store owners along the street. After the settlers had thrown stones for about half an hour, when several Palestinian youths tried to throw stones back at the settlement, dozens of soldiers came out of the settlement gate, hurled stun grenades at the residents, kicked the store owners’ goods and ordered them to close shop. For the next four days, the soldiers barred the owners of 24 shops and stalls on the street from opening their businesses, allegedly because Palestinians had thrown stones at the settlers. On Sunday, the military allowed the businesses to reopen, but on the following weekend, the incidents recurred: settlers again threw stones at the street from the settlement, and soldiers again arrived late – only after Palestinian teens tried to throw stones back at the settlers. These incidents demonstrate exactly how the Israeli apartheid regime operates. Settlers throw stones at Palestinians in front of soldiers, harming them and their property and disrupting their lives. The soldiers do not intervene. When Palestinians dare throw stones back at the settlers, even without hitting them, soldiers arrive, throw stun grenades and tear gas canisters, and punish the Palestinians by closing down businesses on the street. This policy makes it abundantly clear to Palestinians that no one will protect their lives, bodies and property. B’Tselem researcher Manal al-Ja’bari collected the following testimonies from store owners affected by the violence. In a testimony he gave on 3 February 2022, Bader a-Tamimi (57), a father of 11 from the neighborhood of a-Sheikh in central Hebron who sells antiques and arabesque tiles, recounted: On Monday, 24 January 2022, at around noon, about seven settlers, all in their twenties, gathered on the rooftops of houses in the Beit Romano settlement. They taunted passers-by, swearing at them and throwing stones and trash such as empty Coke bottles at them. They did it all in front of a soldier who was stationed at one of the military posts in Beit Romano. In response, two Palestinian teens, who were about 14 years old, climbed the settlement’s entrance gate and took the Israeli flag off the fence. The settlers shouted at the kids, but they ran away. Later that day, the settlers hung another flag on the fence. The next day, at around 10:30 A.M., I took merchandise out of the store and started arranging it out front. Suddenly, settlers started throwing stones at the stores and at passers-by. They threw a lot of stones, and some of them hit my wares. All the antiques and arabesques that were outside were shattered. When we looked to see where the stones were coming from, we saw more than 20 settlers standing on the rooftops of Beit Romano throwing stones. We looked for the soldier who is stationed at the two observation points, but he wasn’t there. We didn’t see any soldiers in the area. The stones that the settlers threw smashed the windshields of several cars that were parked on the street. Some of the people took shelter inside the stores and some ran away. A woman in her twenties was hit by a stone in the shoulder while she was trying to run away. Some teens tried to respond by throwing stones at the settlers, but it was almost impossible because the settlers were in a high place and throwing a lot of stones. After about half an hour of the settlers throwing stones at us, dozens of soldiers suddenly came out of the gate of the Beit Romano settlement. They threw stun grenades at us, ordered us to disperse and demanded that the store owners close up. Meanwhile, the settlers ran back into the settlement. I tried to explain to the soldiers that the settlers were the ones who’d attacked us and showed them the smashed goods, but the soldiers were very aggressive. They yelled at me to close the store immediately, kicked the goods and threw some of them into the store, even though they saw I’d been hit by a stone and was bleeding a little. I had no choice but to obey the soldiers and close the store. The rest of the store owners also closed up. The next day, at 9:00 A.M., I opened up the store and started taking out my merchandise, and so did the other store owners on the street. But about an hour later, several soldiers arrived and told us they had a military order instructing us to close the shops because children had thrown stones at the settlers the day before. On Thursday, the same thing happened. We opened up at around 11:00 A.M. because of the weather, and again soldiers came and ordered all the store owners to close up, even though that day we were only planning to give out heaters to families in need. The soldiers gave us a few minutes to hand out the heaters. A few young guys came and helped me hand them out, but we didn’t manage to give out everything. We came back to continue the distribution the next day, even though it was my day off. Then some soldiers showed up, let me hand out the heaters for a few minutes and then ordered me to close the shop. On Saturday, I went to the store again to open it, and soldiers arrived again and ordered all of us store owners to close up. But that day, several journalists and residents also came and protested against the order to close. Then officers from the Civil Administration also arrived and promised us we could open up as usual on Sunday if we closed that day. We closed and opened up shop on Sunday, with no trouble. In a testimony he gave on 2 February 2022, ‘Arafat Shaloudi (46), a father of seven from Hebron who owns a pickle shop, related: On 25 January 2022, at around 10:30 A.M., I was sitting in the doorway of my store when suddenly, stones started landing nearby. I ran away from there. The stones were coming from the direction of the Beit Romano settlement. At first, I saw about 30 settlers in their twenties standing on the rooftops of Beit Romano and throwing stones from there. There were no soldiers at the military observation points. The settlers threw stones at the shops on the street for more than 20 minutes. Some of the stones hit wares I’d laid out in front of my store, but because they were throwing so many stones, I couldn’t get close to take them away. The stones also shattered the windshields of three cars that were parked there. People started running away. Some teens gathered stones and threw them at the settlers to fend them off. After about half an hour, dozens of soldiers arrived. They threw stun grenades, pushed us and shouted at us to close the stores. They also kicked our merchandise. I put the undamaged goods in the store, closed my shop before the others did and went home. The next morning, I went back to my store and opened it, but then soldiers came and ordered the other store owners and me to close up. The same thing happened on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Every time, we argued with the soldiers, who insisted that we close the stores. On Saturday, after we opened the stores, several soldiers showed up again and ordered us to close up. This time, residents and journalists also came to support us. Then a Civil Administration officer arrived and made a deal with us that we would close on Saturday so we could open on Sunday and the soldiers wouldn’t cause us trouble. I don’t understand why the soldiers were absent during the settlers’ attack, especially since the military observation points in the settlement are usually manned 24 hours a day. I have seven children. The eldest, Sara, is a high school student. The store is my family’s only source of income. On the days it was closed, I didn’t earn anything, which makes it very difficult to cover our expenses. In a testimony he gave on 22 February 2022, Mahran al-Batsh (33), a married grocer from Hebron’s Old City, described: During the settler attack, what caught my attention and everyone else’s was that there were no soldiers in either of the two nearby observation points. While the settlers were attacking us, there was no soldier in sight. I saw some teens and young men gather the settlers’ stones and throw them at the settlers, who were up on the rooftops, but they didn’t reach them because they were too high up and because of the volley of stones raining down from above. I heard that several passers-by were hit before they managed to escape, including a woman who was hit in the shoulder and a young man who was hit in the nose by a stone. The stones hit three vehicles parked on the street, one of which was my brother’s car. It was hit by several stones and the windshield was shattered. At my grocery store, the stones the settlers threw smashed a glass display cabinet that was standing outside, damaged a refrigerator and broke several jars. About half an hour after the settler attack began, the gate of Beit Romano opened, and about 30 soldiers came out. They looked angry. They started attacking whoever was on the street and throwing stun grenades at passers-by and store owners. The soldiers ordered us to close the shops. I also saw them kicking wares. Within minutes, everybody closed the stores, and the settlers left. I closed my store, too. I tried to open the grocery store on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but every time, the soldiers ordered me to close it. Their excuse was that the kids were throwing stones at the settlement and we store owners had to take responsibility and stop them. On Saturday, everyone opened their shops in the morning, and then about 15 soldiers arrived and ordered everyone to close. The merchants protested and insisted on staying in the shops. Residents and many journalists gathered on the street. Then a Civil Administration officer arrived and promised they’d allow us to open up with no trouble on Sunday if they closed up. The merchants agreed and closed the stores, and we all left. On Sunday, we opened up shop as usual, and the soldiers didn’t bother us. In a testimony he gave on 13 February 2022, al-Batsh went on to describe the additional attacks on 4 and 5 February 2022: On Friday, 4 February 2022, at around 1:30 P.M., I was sitting in my shop and my neighbor Bader a-Tamimi was sitting at the doorway of his shop. We saw two buses of settlers come to the Beit Romano settlement. They must’ve been visitors. There were several soldiers with them. After a few minutes, the settlers started throwing stones from behind Beit Romano’s gate. Some young Palestinian guys on the street responded by throwing stones back at them. We saw about 15 settlers going up to the roof near the observation post in Beit Romano. They threw a lot of stones at us, at passers-by and at shops, all in front of the soldier at the post. I went into the store to shelter from the stones. I saw my neighbor Bader trying to take his goods into the store, but it was hard for him because there were so many stones. I wanted to help him but couldn’t reach him. In the end, he also hid inside his store. I saw that the stones hit some of his pottery that was outside. Several soldiers arrived, chased the young men and threw stun grenades at them. They completely ignored the settlers’ stone-throwing, just like the soldier at the observation post. The settlers threw stones for more than an hour. I closed the store and left. The next day, Saturday, at around 3:00 P.M., I was sitting in my shop. I saw about five settlers, aged 16 or 17, on the roof of Beit Romano, near the observation post where there was one soldier. After five minutes, I saw five more soldiers on the roof of the tall building in Beit Romano, which also has a military observation post. We realized the settlers were planning to attack us again. I hid inside my shop, and then the settlers started throwing a lot of stones at the shops and passers-by. We shouted at the soldier inside the observation post, but he didn’t respond. The stone-throwing lasted about seven minutes. While they were throwing stones, soldiers arrived, and the settlers continued to throw stones in front of them. They did nothing. We told the soldiers to do something, but they ignored us. After a few minutes, the gate of Beit Romano opened and six soldiers and an officer came out. Only then did the settlers run away. I told the officer that the settlers had thrown stones at us, and he said he knew and had seen them. He promised me he’d report it to the police. Then the soldiers left. I went to check on my car and found out that the stones thrown by the settlers had smashed its windshield.

15 March 2022