Alternative information center

Hebron and Southern West Bank

-        On 11 May, during the night, settlers destroyed the fence built between Khelly and Humra valleys, near the At-Tuwani village, southwest of Hebron. The villagers found the destroyed wire in the morning. The wire had been erected two months before, in order to protect the village from settler raids and in response to the expansion of the nearby Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on outpost.

-        On 15 May, Anisa Hasan El-Tous, 35 years old, and her daughters Rawa, 2 years old, and Nagham, 5 years old, from Aljaba’ village, south-west of Bethlehem district, were injured when a settler ran them over while they were walking on the main road near the junction of the village. They were taken to al-Ahlee Hospital in Hebron City. Their conditions were described as not serious. The settler tried to escape and run away, but the soldiers located in the area stopped and arrested him.

-        On the same day, a settler ran over a Palestinian man from Beit Ommar, Ahmed Mohammed Safi El Alami, 22 years old, at the main entrance to the town. He was taken to Hadassa Hospital in Jerusalem by an Israeli ambulance.

-        Also, on 15 May, during the weekly protest march organized by Youth against Settlements in the old city of Hebron, settlers from many outposts in the city – mostly from Bait Romano – stoned Palestinian, international and Israeli activists participating in the march. All the settler attacks occurred within full view of the Israeli soldiers placed there to guard the settlers. Previously on 8 May, another attack also occurred at the event.

-        On 30 May, Fatima Sabarna, 55 years old, resident of the Beit Ommar town, north of Hebron district, died after a settler’s car ran over her. She died half an hour after being taken to Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron city. According to Sabarna’s family, while she was walking with her husband Abed-Elafattah Sabarna on the main road near the entrance to the town, a car belonging to a settler ran over the couple. She was seriously injured and died later, while her husband needed mild treatment. According to the family, the Israeli army opened an investigation file on the event.

-        On 2 June, Mazen El-Jamal, 48 years old, died after a settler from Kiryat Arba ran him over. El-Jamal was walking on the main road at the site called El-Fahs, south of the city. An Israeli ambulance took him to Hadassa Hospital in Jerusalem, where he died.

-        On 3 June, a settler stopped his car in front the main gate of Al’Rroub refugee camp, north of Hebron district, went out of his car and opened the fire on a group of children and young people who were there. Mu’taz Mousa Emran, 16 year old, and Ibrahim Mohammed el-Bes, 16 years old, were injured. Mu’taz sustained injuries to his backside and his case was described as serious, while Ibrahim was mildly injured in his leg. Both were taken to Al-Ahlee Hospital in Hebron City. The settler ran away but was later put under house arrest. An eyewitness, Jameel Jawabra, reported: “When around 12 students tried to cross the road near the main gate of the camp, a settler came and attacked them.” Israeli sources said that the army opened an investigation file for the case.

-        On the same day, in the afternoon, two cars driven by settlers from Havat Ma’on settlement stopped by the sides of the road near the entrance to At-Tuwani village, southwest of Hebron. A settler, armed with a gun, got out of one of the two cars, chasing and scaring a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who was shepherding. Israeli army and police reached the place and afterwards, the boy went to Kiryat Arba police station to file a complaint.

-        On 12 June, at around 11 am, about thirty settlers from Havat Ma’on oupost, masked and armed with slings and sticks, invaded At-Tuwani village, attacking the most exposed house and throwing stones at Palestinian villagers. According to a press released issued by Operation Dove, “the settlers approached the house and soon damaged the low stone fence and broke the glass of a window using an iron stick. At the time of the attack, only women and children were at home because all the men of the family were going to the near city of Yatta for a relative’s funeral. The women with the children soon left the house, running away scared. While running, one of the women, age 19, pregnant and with a baby in her arms, fell to the ground. Later in the morning, she has been transferred by a Palestinian Red Cross ambulance to the near hospital of Yatta.” Later, Israeli army came and shortly after the security forces had arrived, some settlers with uncovered faces came out from the woods. Some activists, belonging to the Israeli peace association Ta’ayush, who had arrived shortly before, stood between the Palestinians and the soldiers and one was arrested. Two Palestinian men and two Operation Dove volunteers presented a complaint to the Israeli side.

-        On 14 June, a settler from Kiryat Arba ran over a child, Yousef Adnan El-Sa’eed, 10 years old. The event occurred in the evening on the main road to the west of the settlement. The child was taken to Hadasa Hospital, west of Jerusalem. According to residents of the area, the settlers’ fast driving has caused many accidents on this road in the past, as it is often crowded by Palestinians.

-        On 15 June, at midnight, dozens of settlers living in the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron raided the homes of several Palestinian residents in the nearby Jabal Jales village. During the attack the settlers also destroyed farmland.

-        On 23 June, dozens of settlers from the Bat Ayin settlement, in the Bethlehem district, threw stones and empty bottles at Palestinian homes in Safa, a village near the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron. The attack occurred after the Israeli government demolished two settler houses (settler violence is part of the “price tag” policy). Israeli soldiers fired tear-gas canisters and stun grenades, lightly injuring some villagers. 

Nablus and North of West Bank

-        On 4 May, in the first hours of the morning, settlers from Shilo, Alei and Litona settlements, burned the main mosque in the village of El-Lebban El-Sharqeyya, in the Nablus district. According to the village municipality and eyewitnesses, some settlers’ cars reached the center of the village where the mosque is located. The settlers – some whom were armed – went out of their cars, entered the mosque and then burned it. The Fire Brigades came and stopped the fire in cooperation with the residents. Many copies of the Quran and prayer carpets were totally burned and destroyed. The Palestinian police came later and documented the case. The Israeli authorities also announced that the army opened an investigation into the case.

-        On the same day, settlers from Yitzhar settlement, south of Nablus district, burned 10 dunams of olive trees in Hawwarah village. Samer Arab, mayor of the village, reported that the arson occurred in a site called Al-Naqara, west of the village. The land is located near the aforementioned settlement. The municipality denounced the case to Israeli authorities through the Palestinian Authority.

-        On 7 May, in the first hours of the night, some settlers threw stones at Palestinian cars on the Nablus-Qalqiliya road. The settler attack damaged the cars and broke a windshield. The attack occurred near the Qadumim junction on the Nablus-Qalqiliya road.

-        On 12 May, settlers from the outpost of Adi Gad, east of Nablus district, leveled and damaged 30 dunums of land belonging to families from the village of Jalood. The site is called Sahel Khallet Jalood. Local sources from the village suspect the attack represents an attempt by settlers to confiscate the land in order to expand the outpost.

-        On 14 May, Aysar Yasser El-Zaben, 14 years old, was killed when settlers shot him in his back. The murder occurred west of the village of El-Mizra’a El-Sharqeyya, on the main road. Settlers opened fire on children after their cars were stoned. The body of the young boy was taken to Ramallah Hospital. The Israeli authorities in the area claimed the army will open an investigation in the case.

-        On 17 May, a settler tried to force a Palestinian vehicle off the road. The car was transporting PA Ministry of Tourism staff from Nablus to Ramallah. The driver, he said, was able to control the vehicle and no injuries were reported. The event occurred near the Shilo settlement in Nablus district.

-        On 21 May, dozens of settlers –some armed– from the Migdalin settlement, in the southern part of the Nablus district, attacked farmers from Kasra village while they were harvesting wheat on the land close to the settlement. Hand clashes erupted between the Palestinian famers and the settlers until the army came and forced the farmers to leave the area.

-        On 22 May, some settlers burned around 40 dunums of land planted with wheat in Wadi El-Maleh in the northern valleys of the West Bank. The fire brigades from the nearby town of Tobas came and stopped the fire.

-        On 24 May, settlers from Ariel settlement in the Salfeet district cut and damaged the main water pipe supplying the village of Askaka. The Mayor of the village Sameer Hares Lami declared: “The settlers cut the pipes connecting the village with the main spring called ‘Ain Eltihta.” He appealed to human rights organizations to follow these gross settler violations and the silence of the Israeli army. He added that the settlers have also allowed their dogs to damage the trees in the village many times.

-        On 25 May, approximately 100 settlers gathered from many settlements in Tulkarem district and attacked the farmers who came to restore the land in Kufor Ellabad and Rameen villages as part of a land rehabilitation project. The project is supported by the Farmers Association in Tulkarem. The site is called El–Hafasi village. Mohammed Barhoosh from the association reported that “in the previous week we started the project and everyday the settlers used to come in groups and attack us. Around one hundred settlers came –some of them armed– and they prevented us from entering the land. We started to follow legally the issue in cooperation with the farmers and the local institutions in the villages.”

-        On 27 May, settlers started to expand the fence of the Miskiyot settlement in the northern valleys. They also started building 20 new housing units and brought 8 mobile houses. All of those new constructions were built on 20 dunums of land that were recently confiscated. The land belongs to families from the village of Wadi-Elmaleh.

-        On 28 May, four Palestinians from Bal’aa town in Tulkarem district were injured when settlers stoned their car. The attack occurred when the car reached the main junction to the east of the district. The settlers from Karnei Shomron threw stones at the car and the passengers. They were all taken to Darweesh Nazzal Hospital in Tulkarem. They are: Mohammed Mohmoud Omair, Azzat Mohammed Omair, Aminah Rashed Omair and Sadiqa Rashed Omair.

-        On 29 May, some pigs in Salfeet district north of Ramallah attacked the fields and damaged many trees belonging to families from the town of Salfeet. The event occurred in the night, as it has happened many times before. The farmers faced the pigs and forced them to leave. Local sources said that such attacks from the pigs frequently happen, especially in summer. Despite the complaints presented to the Israeli side, the attacks still continue.

-        On 2 June, settlers from settlement of Kedumim east of Qalqeelya burned fields planted with olive trees in the land of Fara’ta village, east of the city. The fire brigades in the city reached the area and stopped the fire. According to local sources, around 10 dunums were damaged. The event occurred in the afternoon.

-        On the same day, settlers from Yitzhar, south of Nablus district, burned around 100 dunums of land belonging to the family of Mohammed Salamah El-Safadi from Oreef village. Ghassan Doglas, director of Settlement File in the northern districts, reported that the settlers attacked in the morning and some hundreds of olive trees were burnt. The targeted site is called Jabal El-Mawares. He added that this area is usually targeted by settlers coming mostly from the Yitzhar settlement.

-        On 9 June, pigs belonging to many settlements in Salfeet district, north of Ramallah, attacked the agricultural fields of the site called E’in El Qebliyya, south of Salfeet city. The attacks damaged dozens of dunums planted with wheat and apple trees. According to local sources in the city, this was not the first time that the pigs attacked the land in the districts. Several complaints were already presented to the local Israeli authorities.

-        On the same day, settlers from the northern settlements in the Ramallah district burned around 30 dunums of land belonging to families in the village of El-Mizra’a El-Qibliyya. The army came and prevented the farmers from reaching the place for an hour in order to stop the fire.

-        On 10 June, very early in the morning, settlers from the outpost of Gv’at Gi’an, in the northern West Bank, burned a car, model Opel Skoda, belonging to Ayed Abd Allah Suwwan from Amateen village located between Nablus and Qalqeelya cities. The car was totally burned before the owner and some villagers were able to stop the fire. The settlers ran away to the aforementioned outpost. The owner informed the Israeli authorities through the Israeli–Palestinian military coordination committee in the district.