On Sunday, 9 June 2024, around noon, a fire broke out in open fields that lie northwest of the Palestinian village of ‘Urif and southwest of the settlement of Yitzhar. The fire spread to ‘Urif’s olive groves and consumed many trees, but there is no accurate assessment of the damage as local residents have been afraid to access this area, which is close to the settlement, since 7 October. A Palestinian fire truck arrived and began putting out the fire, but it was extinguished only after Israeli fire trucks arrived at around 3:00 P.M.
At that point, dozens of settlers gathered near the school on the eastern outskirts of the village, most of them masked and armed with clubs, sticks and slingshots. They were guarded by soldiers and Border Police officers in two vehicles. At least one of the settlers had a container of flammable material with him. Some of the settlers, a soldier and two Border Police officers advanced to the first houses of the village, about 100 meters from the school. These settlers began attacking the homes with stones and started a fire at the entrance to Mu’taz Safadi’s home. Village residents went out to the street and threw stones at the settlers, in an attempt to repel them and defend the houses, and then one of the armed forces escorting the settlers fired live shots at the residents. At that point, more soldiers arrived in a military jeep and one of them fired live shots at residents trying to repel the settlers with stones from about 200 meters away. In the first 45 minutes of the attack, three village residents were injured by the armed forces’ gunshots: Ahmad Shhadeh (17) was injured in the left arm, ‘Omar Shhadeh (20) was injured by fragments in the right leg, and Ousamah Safadi (18) was injured in the thigh while standing on the balcony of his house.
Some of the settlers and armed forces then drew back towards the school, while other settlers stayed in place and continued attacking Ousamah Safadi’s house with stones, while a jeep guarded them. The settlers tried to break down the front gate and set fire to a car parked next to the house, while local residents tried to repel them and prevent them from breaking into the family’s home. At around 4:00 P.M., the forces fired live shots at the residents from a distance of about 150 meters, injuring ‘Abd a-Rahman Safadi (14) in the shoulder and Yazan Shhadeh (22) in the thigh. The wounded persons were taken in cars to the southern entrance to the village, where ambulances were standing by to take them to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus and Yasser Arafat Hospital in Salfit. A few minutes later, two more military jeeps arrived in the village and after about 10 minutes, the settlers and the armed forces left.
B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i collected testimonies on 4 July 2024. Below are some of them:
‘Abd a-Rahman Safadi, 14, who was injured by the soldiers’ gunfire, said in his testimony:
On Sunday, 9 June 2024, around 3:00 P.M., while I was at work, I was told settlers were attacking my uncle ‘Issam Safadi’s house in the eastern part of the village. I went there right away.
When I arrived, I saw dozens of settlers escorted by soldiers. The settlers were very close to my uncle’s house, and they were throwing stones at it by hand and with a slingshot. Some of them were holding plastic containers, and we realized later that they contained flammable materials. I stood with some of the neighbors at the side gate of the house, to stop them from entering. I saw a military jeep and a Border Police vehicle near the high school.
While we were standing there, I heard live fire and then a shout from the balcony of the house. I went up there and saw that my cousin Ousamah had been hit in the thigh. We brought him downstairs and took him to a car that drove him to an ambulance, which was waiting at the back entrance to the village. Then I went back to my uncle’s side gate and stood there again with about 20 other residents, some of whom threw stones at the settlers to drive them away.
The settlers tried to break into the courtyard through the main gate. I went a little farther down the street with other residents, and when I reached the end of the outer wall of the house, a bullet hit me. I felt pain in my left shoulder and started bleeding from my mouth and nose. The young guys grabbed me and ran with me to a car that took me to the center of the village, where a Red Crescent ambulance was waiting for us. It took me to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus. They did an X-ray, and it turned out the bullet had lodged in my body and my esophagus was damaged, but they didn’t operate because they said it would be dangerous to remove it. I had some swelling in the neck area, too. I was discharged only after eight days.
‘Abd a-Rahman’s cousin, Yasser Safadi, 22, who was injured by a stone thrown by settlers, said in his testimony:
On Sunday, 9 June 2024, at around 3:00 P.M., while I was at work at the ‘Urif supermarket in the center of the village, I was told that settlers had arrived in the a-Safafir area in the east of the village, where my uncle ‘Issam Safadi lives. When I got there, about 20 settlers and maybe two soldiers were standing near the main entrance to the house. I walked around, jumped over the wall and went up to the roof of the house. The soldiers were pointing their guns at residents who came to defend the houses.
The settlers set fire to a nearby olive grove and tried to set fire to Mu’taz Safadi’s front door, but the fire didn’t catch because it’s made of iron. The soldiers were firing live shots meanwhile. About then, my cousin Ousamah came from his workplace, together with some other relatives. They climbed up to the balcony through the back gate, and in the meantime, more settlers arrived from the direction of the settlement of Yitzhar, so there were dozens of settlers by then.
Around 3:30 P.M., a military jeep and a Border Police jeep arrived. In the meantime, the settlers attacked ‘Issam’s house with stones, damaging the air conditioner, solar panels and windows. We threw stones back at them to defend ourselves and drive them away. We were afraid they would manage to get into the house and set it on fire. In the meantime, I heard gunshots and, at some point, shouting. I looked back and saw Ousamah fall to the floor. He bled and screamed and then lost consciousness. I tried to calm his mother, who was crying. He was hit in the thigh and the bullet went out the back. He was bleeding very heavily. Along with some other guys who’d gone up to the balcony, we brought him down through the back gate, and in the process, I was hit in the head by a stone thrown by the settlers, who were about five meters away from us. The soldiers were with them and didn’t try to stop them from attacking us or the houses. I put my hand on my head, and it got covered in blood. Blood was running down my face, too, and I felt dizzy, so I left and went somewhere safer. Red Crescent volunteers reached me from the south side of the village and gave me first aid. When it was all over, I went to Rafidya Hospital, where they took an X-ray and gave me a pain reliever and other medications, and then I went home.
Samirah Safadi, 44, the mother of 18-year-old Ousamah Safadi who was shot and injured while defending his family’s home, said in her testimony:
Around 3:00 P.M., I was at home with my family. My husband ‘Issam, 47, was in the yard, and when I went out to call him for lunch, I saw about 20 settlers near the school, which is no more than 100 meters from our house. We went inside, and I asked the whole family to leave by the back door and go to the neighbors’ house, because I felt our place was dangerous. ‘Issam and I went up to the balcony to see what was going on from there, and we saw the settlers setting fire to our neighbor Mu’taz Safadi’s door. Thank God it’s an iron door, and the fire didn’t spread to the rest of the house. In the meantime, village residents came to defend us, including my son Ousamah, 18, who came from work. He entered the house through the back gate.
At around 3:30 P.M., the settlers came to the northern side of our house and threw stones at it. They also started a fire on land next to the house that has olive trees. I kept hearing stones hitting the walls and glass shattering. They broke windows and solar panels in our house. We stayed on the balcony, and I tried to keep as calm as possible, but I was afraid for Ousamah’s life. He was with us on the balcony.
There were soldiers there, but they didn’t try to stop the settlers’ attack or keep them away. They let them do whatever they wanted. The soldiers also constantly fired live shots. Around 3:40 P.M., a bullet hit Ousamah, who was a few steps away from me. I heard him shout, and then he fell on the floor. He shouted and called for help. I was very frightened and started shouting for help and then more young guys came through the back gate. They picked him up and took him out of the house through the back gate. They took him in a car to the southern entrance to the village, and my husband went with them. From there, he was taken in an ambulance to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus, together with my husband.
I was shocked, but I kept in touch with my husband on the phone.
After the settlers and soldiers left, around 4:30 P.M., I went to Rafidya Hospital. Ousamah had surgery, which took four hours, and stayed in the ICU for a week. Then they transferred him to the orthopedic department, and then for further treatment at al-Istishari Hospital in Ramallah. The doctors said he would need more surgery and a long rehabilitation.
* Update: Ousamah Safadi remained at al-Istishari Hospital in Ramallah for several days before being discharged. He continues to visit the hospital for treatment. On 19 September 2024, he traveled to Jordan for further treatment.