Deir Dobwan, Ramallah District: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian shepherds with stones and pepper spray. Soldiers attack local residents who come to defend the shepherds
On Saturday, 22 April 2023, at around 4:00 P.M., while five residents of the Khirbet a-Sheikh ‘Ammar neighborhood in Deir Dobwan were grazing their flocks south of the village, a settler arrived with a flock and tried to mix it with one of the villagers’ flocks, belonging to brothers Suliman (25) and Amjad (36) Sheikhah. The two managed to move their flock away to a nearby hill.
Within about ten minutes, three more settlers arrived by car and attacked the flock with stones. A few minutes later, about ten more settlers arrived in cars from the direction of the hill, some of them masked and armed with guns and clubs. They joined the stone-throwing at the flock and the shepherds. The settlers wounded two of the shepherds in the head: Hassan Muqbal (33), who was wounded in the back of the head and Suliman Sheikhah , who was knocked down to the ground after being hit in the head but managed to get up. One of the settlers tried to pepper spray Ahmad Mash’al (36) in the face, but he managed to escape.
The shepherds called for help, and dozens of village residents came and tried to repel the settlers by throwing stones. At that point, dozens more settlers arrived with a military escort, and the soldiers threw stun grenades and fired tear gas canisters at them as well as live rounds in the air. After about an hour, the shepherds began to retreat with their flocks. The village residents went with them towards the village.
Two sheep had broken legs, and two others died later that night. Another sheep died four days later, likely from injuries from the stones or tear gas inhalation. About ten more sheep miscarried their embryos.
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Hassan Muqbal after the attack. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B'Tselem, 27 April 2023
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 27 April 2023, Suliman Sheikhah said:
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Suliman Sheikhah. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B'Tselem, 27 April 2023
I live in Khirbet a-Sheikh’ Ammar, south of the village of Deir Dobwan, with my wife and daughter. My brother Amjad and I raise 250 heads of sheep and goats. This is how we make our living.
We regularly graze the flock in the orchards and fields near the community, most of which belong to residents of our village and nearby villages like Burqah and Mikhmas.
On Saturday, 22 April 2023, at around 4:00 P.M., my brother Amjad and I, along with three friends from the community, were grazing our flocks in the pasturelands south of the village, about half a kilometer away from our house. Suddenly a settler showed up with a flock. He was wearing a red kufiyah and military-colored clothes. He started deliberately mixing his flock with ours, probably in an attempt to steal sheep from us. We took the flock and moved a little farther away to avoid a confrontation.
After ten minutes, three settlers arrived in a car, and I heard the settler telling them we’d thrown stones at them, and then the three settlers started throwing stones at our flock. We took the flock and ran to the hill on the other side of the pastureland, but then about ten more settlers arrived at the hill. Some of them were masked and armed with guns and clubs. They threw stones at us, and we threw stones back at them to defend ourselves. Hassan Subhi Muqbal was injured in the back of the head by a stone. He was bleeding and went off to the side. I was hit in the head by a large stone that caused a bruise. I felt dizzy and fell but managed to get up. One of the settlers tried to pepper spray Ahmad Mash’al in the face, but he ran away and was not hurt.
In the meantime, reinforcements of dozens of young men from the village arrived. Dozens more settlers arrived, too, along with four or five military jeeps, and joined the first group. The soldiers started chasing us, firing live rounds in the air and tear gas canisters at us and also throwing stun grenades at us. A confrontation started and lasted about an hour until the young men began to gradually retreat towards the village.
During the confrontation, my brother and I managed to get our flock out of there. Two of the sheep had their legs broken, and two sheep died at night, because they were hit by stones or tear gas. Another sheep died four days later, and ten sheep have since miscarried their embryos, probably because of the gas.
