On 17 May 2022, three armed settlers escorted by five military vehicles arrived at the section of Route 60 that runs through the town of Huwarah in Nablus District. One of the settlers climbed a utility pole and removed a Palestinian flag hanging on it. The next day, 18 May 2022, young men from the town hung the flag back up. At 3:00 P.M., the three armed settlers arrived again, and one of them climbed the pole and removed the flag.
Town residents gathered at the spot and soon soldiers arrived in military jeeps, as well as Special Police Unit (SPU) officers in two white vehicles. The soldiers and settlers shouted at the residents and ordered them to move away. While they were doing so, the settlers attacked two young men from the town, Qusai Dmeidi and Miqdad ‘Odeh (both 22). The settlers beat the two men and dragged them to an SPU vehicle, where soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded them before putting them in the vehicle. Soldiers then got into the vehicle and beat the young men inside. The two were then separated and each was held in a different vehicle for about half an hour to an hour. They were released after a soldier who arrived informed them that he was “in charge” and “didn’t want any trouble.”
In a testimony he gave on 22 May 2022, Qusai Dmeidi (Fakhuri), 22, from Huwarah recounted:
On 18 May 2022, at around 3:00 P.M., I was eating at a restaurant off the Huwarah Road (Route 60) when I heard shouting coming from the road. I went outside to see what was happening. At first, I thought there’d been a car accident because a lot of cars were stopped on the road. Then I saw a settler taking down a Palestinian flag from a utility pole. There were other settlers there, as well as soldiers with three jeeps and two large white cars.
I started heading over there and saw a settler in black clothes whom I know as “Yaakov,” a security guard at the Yitzhar settlement. He was swearing at residents on the street. Suddenly, after the settler took down the flag, Yaakov started pushing me. I pushed him back and turned around to get back in my car and drive away, because I didn’t want any trouble. But Yaakov pulled me hard by the collar and beat me, along with two other settlers.
There were a lot of soldiers and settlers there. At first, the settlers tried to tie my hands, but then soldiers arrived and they tied my hands, blindfolded me and put me in the vehicle. The soldiers also got in the vehicle and beat me for a few minutes, with their hands and weapons. After about 15 minutes, they put another young man in the car, whom I later learned is called Miqdad and is also from Huwarah. I heard him writhing in pain and asking the soldiers to take off his zip ties.
I also asked them to take the zip ties off me, because they put them on very tight. One of the soldiers loosened the zip ties a little and after about 15 minutes, a soldier arrived and said that he was in charge and didn’t want any trouble, and that he’d let us go. They released Miqdad but held me for about another half an hour, and then they took me out of the jeep, took the blindfold and zip ties off and released me. I got home physically and mentally exhausted. Until the settlers and soldiers arrived, everything was calm and there weren’t any problems. Then they came, swore, attacked, made threats and held up traffic, without us doing anything. All that because of a Palestinian flag.
In a testimony he gave on 22 May 2022, Miqdad ‘Odeh (22) recalled:
I work at a restaurant by the main road in Huwarah. That day, I heard shouting outside the restaurant. When I went outside, I saw three vehicles belonging to settlers, which I’d also seen the day before when they took down the flag that was hanging on one of the utility poles. This time, too, the settlers took down the flag.
I saw three settlers attack a young man I didn’t recognize on the road outside the restaurant. They led him to a vehicle of Israeli security forces, who’d already arrived in two white SPU jeeps and three regular military jeeps. The soldiers started shouting and pushing the young Palestinians who’d gathered on the road, including me.
A settler we know as the security guard of the Yitzhar settlement, who’s called “Yaakov”, pushed me and tried to knock me to the ground. He grabbed me by the neck and led me to one of the jeeps. I felt like I was suffocating, and then someone hit me on the head with an object. I think it was a stun grenade. I fell to the ground and couldn’t move. A soldier shouted at me and tried to tie my hands. He wanted me to put my hands behind my back, but I told him I didn't understand and then he tied my hands in front with two zip ties and led me to one of the jeeps.
They put me inside and covered my eyes. A soldier came over to me, shouted at me and said I’d injured him. He showed me blood on his finger. I have no idea how he got injured. Then he put the blindfold over my eyes again, and suddenly, they hit me several times in the face. That lasted for a minute or two, and then they took me out of the jeep and led me to another jeep where there was another young man. At some point, they took one of the zip ties off my hands. After about an hour, another soldier arrived and said in Arabic that they didn’t want any trouble and released me. I got home exhausted, with pain in my head, hands and all over my body. Only then did I find out that the other guy was named Qusai and that he was released after me.