On Friday, 21 October 2022, while Bassem Shalaldah (58) was at home in the al-Qanub area, northeast of the town of Sa’ir, a neighbor informed him he could see settlers stealing olives in Shalaldah’s plot several hundred meters away from his home. Shalaldah went to the plot with his wife and two of his children, and saw three settlers picking olives off his trees. Two of the settlers ran away, leaving the olives behind, and the third walked some way away to a nearby path. While Shalaldah was on the phone with the police, the third settler threw several stones at him and his family and then left. Police officers arrived about 30 minutes later, and Shalaldah went with them to the police station in the settlement of Beitar Illit, where he filed a complaint.
B’Tselem already documented two incidents this olive harvest, on 18 and 24 September 2022, in which settlers stole fruit from Shalaldah’s grove and damaged trees.
Until recently, about 15 Palestinian families lived in the al-Qanub area, which lies northeast of the town of Sa’ir in Hebron District. Over the past two years, about half of them have left as settlers have taken over farmlands and pastureland in the area and harassed Palestinian shepherds. Today, only seven families remain.