On 17 December 2021, at around 11:00 A.M., dozens of settlers, most of them masked and some bearing firearms and clubs, arrived at the northern edge of the village and pelted homes with stones. The homes that were under attack are located several hundred meters away from the former location of the settlement of Homesh, which was removed in 2005. The settlers smashed the windows of two houses and of three apartments in a four-story building, as well as vandalizing propert in the yards of the homes. Residents who were home at the time were forced to withdraw into more protected parts of their homes to shield themselves. When Nizar Abu ‘Odeh (67) and some family members climbed to the roof of the house to see what was going on, a stone hit Nizar’s leg. The settlers also set fire to a storage shed located behind one of the homes.
During the attack, local residents arrived to help defend the homes and tried to fend off the settlers by throwing stones at them.
After approximately an hour, about 10 soldiers arrived at the scene and fired tear gas canisters at residents who were trying to defend the homes, in an attempt to remove them from the area. One of the settlers fired several bullets at the residents, in the presence of the soldiers. A resident was lightly injured in the leg from shrapnel and received treatment on site.
The settlers retreated from the neighborhood and gathered at the main entrance to the village, where dozens of soldiers joined them. As the latter looked on, settlers stoned Muhammad ‘Aqel’s (26) car as he drove along the road between the villages of Burqah and Bizzariya. The car’s windshield and a side window were smashed, and a live bullet fired by the settlers hit the car frame. ‘Aqel drove on and managed to flee the area. The settlers also vandalized two parked cars, smashing their windows and puncturing their tires. The soldiers providing security for the settlers fired tear gas at local residents who gathered to defend their village. The settlers eventually retreated towards the former site of the settlement of Homesh, but some soldiers remained in the area for several hours.
In a testimony she gave B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i on 22 December 2021, Wafa Salah (16), an 11th-grade student from Burqah, spoke about her house being attacked by dozens of settlers:
On Friday, 17 December 2021, at around 10:30 A.M., I was home with my mother and siblings, who are all younger than me, ranging in age from two to 15. I was cleaning the house. I live with my family in a four-story building. My uncles live in the other units in the building. When I opened the living room window, I saw a very large number of settlers near the house of our neighbors, ‘Abd a-Salam Salah’s family, which is about 150-200 meters from our house. Most of the settlers had their faces covered, and they were throwing stones at ‘Abd a-Salam’s car.
I shut the window right away. I went downstairs to the main gate of the building and locked it. As I was going down the stairs, I yelled: “Settlers! Settlers!” so everyone would know. My uncle’s wife came out of her apartment, and I told her the settlers were on their way over.
After I locked the gate, I went back home. My mother told us to stay away from the windows. Right after that, the settlers attacked our house with stones. I could hear the stones hitting the building walls and heard glass shattering. Later, I found out it was in my uncle Ahmad’s apartment. I was very scared, and I called my father in tears to tell him we were under attack. The settlers were yelling and swearing. I didn’t understand what they were saying. Then I heard shouts from village residents who had come to help.
The settlers smashed the window of the living room, where we were hiding, with stones. I heard people outside saying the settlers had Molotov cocktails, and I was terrified. I was scared they’d burn us. After that, they smashed the kitchen window, too. We were petrified, and we screamed our heads off. I was very confused.
After about an hour, I heard some soldiers arrive, too, and then some shots. Then I heard village residents shouting for everyone to look out because the settlers were shooting. I heard maybe five to seven shots. I was so scared, I didn’t dare look outside.
Then I heard residents saying the settlers had retreated and the military was there. Things had calmed down in the area, but a few minutes later, I heard residents saying the settlers had moved to the entrance to the village. After that, most of the residents went there to fend off the settlers and prevent them from advancing towards village houses.
My brothers and sisters and I were very afraid. We haven’t been able to sleep in our rooms ever since. We’ve all been sleeping in my parents’ room. I’m really scared they’ll throw something flammable into our house and burn us all. My father fixed both windows, the one near the living room and the one in the kitchen.