Settlers attacked the extended Idris family in Khallet a-Natsh, Hebron, over three consecutive days, threw stones at their homes, tried to torch a house with a pregnant woman inside and broke a man’s arm

Khallet a-Natsh is a neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Hebron with a population of 45 families. In 2004, Israeli settlers established the Givat Gal outpost nearby. After the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, settlers began expanding the outpost to a hill even closer to homes in the neighborhood. During that time, the military installed a gate on the road connecting the neighborhood and the city center, blocking all travel by car.

Of all the families in Khallet a-Natsh, the Idris family lives closest to the hill with the new settler prefabs. The family has suffered from settler violence in the past. This past April, for three consecutive days, settlers came from the area of the outpost to their homes and attacked family members. The settlers, some masked and armed with batons, iron rods and even firearms, damaged property, hurled stones at homes, and tried to set fire to an apartment with a pregnant woman inside.

The attack began on Sunday, 20 April 2025, around 4:00 P.M., when a teenage settler came with a flock of sheep to the olive grove Ishaq Idris has by his home. Idris demanded he leave. A short while later, five settlers arrived with a soldier and started throwing stones at the house, while women and children were inside. After about 15 minutes, police officers arrived and moved the settlers away, without arresting anyone. The teenage settler stayed in the grove with his flock until 7:00 P.M.

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The following day, 21 April, the teenage settler returned with the flock. He was joined by about 30 settlers, accompanied by two soldiers, who again attacked the family's home with stones. Police called to the scene by Idris looked on without intervening.

On 22 April, settlers returned again, this time invading the olive grove of Sadeq Idris, Ishaq’s cousin, about 200 meters from the house. The settlers attempted to break into the apartment of Raji, Sadeq’s brother, while his pregnant wife Rasha was home alone inside. They also poured flammable liquid through a window. When Sadeq tried to push one of the settlers away, the settler hit him on the shoulder with a baton. Police summoned by the family removed the settlers. Sadeq was taken by private vehicle to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken right arm.

Following the attack, police chose to summon family members rather than the settlers to the police station in Ja’abarah, where they were accused of attacking settlers. The family members were held at the statio from 8:00 A.M. to 2:00 A.M. the next day and released only after each posted a bail of 500 shekels.

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B'Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari collected testimonies from several family members on 1 May 2025.

Ishaq Naji Idris, 34, father of five, said in his testimony:

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I live on the ground floor of a two-story building with my wife ‘Ula, 32, and our five children: Rahaf, 11, Rana, 9, Abrar, 7, Munawwer, 5, and Naji, 2. My brother ‘Ubeidah, 33, lives on the second floor with his family. About 300 meters from our house, the Givat Gal outpost was established. I work as the muezzin and imam of the a-Shuhadaa Mosque.

On 20 April 2025, around 4:00 P.M., I saw a settler boy, about 15 years old, coming from the direction of Givat Gal and setting his sheep to grove in our olive grove, which is next to our house. He also tried to steal my sheep from the pen behind the house. I asked him to leave and warned him I’d call the police if he didn’t go. But about five minutes later, I saw five settlers coming towards my house with an Israeli soldier. The settlers, who were masked and were carrying batons, started throwing stones at the house.

The sound of the stones hitting the walls terrified the women and children. I called the Israeli police and reported the attack. About 15 minutes later, police officers arrived and moved the settlers a few meters away from us. I saw the settlers speaking with the officer. Then they went back towards the outpost, accompanied by the soldier. The settler boy refused to leave and stayed with his flock in our grove until 7:00 P.M.

The next day, 21 April 2025, around 5:00 P.M., the same boy came back with his sheep. A few minutes later, about 30 masked settlers arrived with two soldiers. The settlers immediately started throwing stones at our house.

I took my children and wife inside and called the Israeli police again. Officers arrived 15 minutes later, but the settlers continued throwing stones while the police and soldiers watched. The stones didn’t damage our home because the windows are protected with mesh, but of course my wife and children were frightened.

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On the third day, 22 April 2025, around 2:00 P.M., settlers attacked the home of my cousin Sadeq. They beat him with batons and broke his right arm. He told me the settlers had shattered the windows of his brother Raji’s apartment and tried to burn it down while Raji’s wife was inside.

That evening, a police officer from the Ja’abarah station called and told me to come in with my uncle Yunis, his son Raji, and Sadeq’s sons ‘Abd a-Razaq and Nur a-Din. The next day, 23 April, we all arrived at the station at 8:00 A.M. They made us wait an hour outside. Then a police officer took our ID cards and called us in one by one for questioning.

It turned out the settlers had filed complaints against us, claiming we’d thrown stones at them. The interrogator asked us to call a lawyer. They held us until 2:00 A.M. and only released us after each of us paid a fine of 500 shekels. We paid, but they didn’t give us receipts.

Sadeq Yunis Idris, 51, a father of 11, said in his testimony:

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Our home is a two-story building with six apartments. I live on the first floor with my wife Safaa, 50, six of our children, between the ages of 5 and 19, my father Yunis, 75, and his wife, Hind Qawasmeh, 60. On the second floor live my son Yunis, his wife Mais, and their two daughters, 2. In the apartment across from them live my son Yusef, his wife Rajaa, and their son Muhammad, 1.

My brothers Raji and Rajai live in apartments next to ours, with their wives and children.

Our area is cut off from the road leading to Hebron by a metal gate the military installed about 200 meters from our house. To the east lies the Givat Gal outpost, and nearby there is a military base in the Jales area, about 500 meters away. After the war broke out, settlers set up several prefab homes on the hill near our home.

I work as a bulldozer operator but have been unemployed for a long time because of the war and the situation in the West Bank. My children are also out of work due to the war.

Settlers attacked the house of my cousins Ishaq and ‘Ubeidah, which is about 200 meters from our house, for two days straight. Then, on Tuesday, 22 April 2025, around 4:30 P.M., two settlers aged about 15 to 17 came with their sheep to my land next to our home. I demanded they move the sheep away from the olive trees and leave. One of them answered, "Give us cigarettes and we'll leave." I gave him some, hoping to avoid trouble. Then he asked for my prayer beads. I gave him those too, but they refused to leave. They moved a few meters away and then began cursing at me. One of them stole a mattress from near our home, and they sat on it while their sheep grazed on our olive trees.

About an hour later, we saw around 30 settlers, all of them masked but one, coming towards our house. They were armed with batons and iron rods, and one had a gun. Two soldiers followed them from the lookout post at the entrance to Givat Gal.

The settlers began throwing stones at me and at our house. I tried to fend them off with stones. The women and children inside were frightened and crying. The settlers smashed windowpanes as they hurled stones at our house for about 30 minutes.

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They came towards the house, throwing stones, until they reached the door to my brother Raji’s apartment, at the back of the house. Raji wasn’t home and only his wife Rasha, who was eight months pregnant, was inside with the kids. My wife managed to get the children out, but Rasha refused to leave while stones were being thrown, fearing she’d be injured and lose the baby.

Five of the settlers attacked the apartment. They tried to break down the door with an iron rod and managed to break through four windows. Two of them took tires we’d turned into planters, emptied out the soil, and threw them at the door. One settler came close with a bottle he took out of a bag, which probably had flammable liquid, and tried to pour it into the apartment through the window.

I was afraid they’d burn the house down with Rasha inside. I shoved the settler hard, to get him away from the window and keep him from setting the house on fire. A soldier fired two live shots in the air, and then the settler I’d shoved hit me in the right shoulder with a wooden club. The pain was excruciating, like my arm had been torn off. I screamed.

I retreated to the front of the house. At that moment, I saw a police car approach. The officers pushed the settlers toward Givat Gal, leaving only the two young shepherds behind. The officers followed the settlers and then came back and photographed the damage to our home. One of them asked what happened and if I needed an ambulance. He advised me to call a Palestinian ambulance.

I went to al-Ahli Hospital by private car. There, X-rays revealed a vertical fracture in my right arm. They put it in a cast and said I might need surgery if it didn’t heal. Then they sent me home.

The settlers continue to come every day and graze their sheep on our land and in front of our home.

That evening, my father Yunis, my sons ‘Abd a-Razaq, 19, and Nur a-Din, 16, my brother Raji, and a cousin received summons from the police. The next morning, 23 April, they all went to the police station. The settlers had filed complaints against them. After waiting an hour, they were brought in one by one for questioning. The officer said they were being held on suspicion of attacking settlers with stones and suggested they call a lawyer. Although we had filed many complaints against the settlers, they were the ones charged. Each of us was ordered to pay 500 shekels in bail. We paid and were released.

Since the settlers’ last attack, Rasha has been staying with her parents, too afraid to return until after giving birth.

Safaa Idris, 54, mother of 11, said in her testimony:

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I was worried for Rasha and her children because they were alone in their home at the back of the building. Under a hail of stones, I ran out and managed to reach them. I begged her to come with me to our home in the front. Rasha refused. She was afraid the settlers would attack her and she’d lose the baby. She’d struggled to conceive and undergone IVF. She decided to lock herself in her bedroom. I took her 11-year-old twins, Taymaa and Kinan, to our home.

While I was walking the twins back, about five settlers reached Rasha’s home. We saw them trying to break through the door and windows with an iron rod. They managed to smash several windows. We started yelling “Allahu Akbar” to make them leave, but they didn’t stop. They kept on attacking the building, especially Rasha’s apartment, surrounding it from all sides.

We saw them empty large planters we’d made from tires and put them by her door. Then they poured liquid through a broken window. My husband ran towards them, and I pulled my father-in-law inside, afraid he’d get hit by the stones.

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Then I heard two live shots. I froze, thinking the settlers had shot Sadeq. I ran out screaming, “Sadeq! Sadeq!” I saw him staggering toward the house, holding his right arm. I shouted for someone to call an ambulance, thinking he’d been shot.

A police car arrived, and the settlers dispersed. My husband was driven to the hospital by a neighbor.

I stayed home and tried to calm the children. The police officers took photos of the damage, especially in Raji and Rasha’s apartment, and told us we could file a complaint.

We no longer feel safe in our home. Since 7 October 2023, the settlers have become more violent and aggressive. They almost set Rasha’s apartment on fire while she was inside.