On Friday, 27 January 2023, at around 3:00 P.M., Muhammad Safi (36) and his friend Rajaai ‘Ali Ahmad (35), from the village of Kafr a-Dik, hiked in the Wadi al-Matawi area. Shortly after they arrived at the site, six settlers riding dirt bikes approached them. ‘Ali Ahmad ran towards his car, as three of the settlers threw stones at him. A stone hit his back, but he managed to get in the car and escape. Safi did not manage to get away, and three of the settlers caught him, knocked him down, beat him and kicked him all over his body. One of the settlers tried to strangle him. Safi ultimately managed to free himself and fled to a distance of about 500 meters, with the settlers giving chase. They caught him again and resumed beating him. The settlers left when other Palestinians arrived in several cars.
That was when Ahmad returned and drove Safi to Yasser Arafat Hospital in Salfit, where he underwent a medical exam revealing he had sustained bruises in various parts of his body.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi, Muhammad Safi, a father of two, said:
On Friday, at around 3:00 P.M., I went with my friend Ahmad Rajaai for a hike in the Wadi al-Matawi area, near the main road between Salfit and Bruqin. Soon, six settlers on motorcycles approached us. Ahmad managed to get away, but three of the settlers knocked me down and started beating me all over my body. One of them also tried to strangle me with his hands. In the end, I managed to escape and got about 500 meters away from them, but they chased me on their motorcycles, got off them, threw stones at me and beat me again. They left only after several Palestinian cars arrived from the direction of Salfit. My whole body hurt, especially my chest.
After the settlers took off, Ahmad came back in his car and drove me to Yasser Arafat Hospital, where I was examined and had x-rays done. They found I had bruises on my chest, left knee and neck.