Hebron City Center
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
