Khirbet Qawawis, South Hebron Hills: Settlers attacked residents and solidarity activists in the village with stones, clubs, and pepper spray, wounding several people and damaging vehicles, homes, and other property

On Tuesday, 26 August 2025, at around 4:00 P.M., a settler arrived at the community’s lands with a flock of sheep and let them graze in residents’ privately owned olive groves. The residents called solidarity activists, who came to the scene, documented the incursion, and contacted the police.

Soldiers who arrived there claimed that the settler was permitted to graze in the groves and told the residents to wait until representatives of the Civil Administration reached the area to determine the status of the land. After about 40 minutes, the soldiers left and the settler also distanced himself. Representatives of the Civil Administration did not arrive.

At around 6:00 P.M., a soldier on an ATV, known to the residents as a settler from the area, arrived at the scene, wandered around near the homes, and then left.

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About 15 minutes later, 12 masked settlers ran into the area, most of them armed with clubs. The settlers began attacking residents, activists, and homes with stones and damaging vehicles. They beat several residents and activists with clubs and sprayed pepper spray into a house where women and children were sheltering. The settlers also entered one of the homes and damaged kitchen equipment and food, as well as piles of animal feed.

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The settlers beat one of the activists with clubs, knocked her to the ground, and continued to strike her on her body and head while she lay on the ground. In addition, they beat and wounded three residents of the community and two other activists with clubs.

During the attack, the settlers smashed security cameras installed on residents’ homes, shattered windows and solar panels that supplied electricity to the houses, scattered animal feed, damaged electrical appliances and food in the kitchen of one of the homes, and damaged the contents of the house. They also vandalized a tractor belonging to one of the residents and the activists’ car.

Afterwards, they returned to the same activist, assaulted her again, and stole her camera and cellphone.

The attack lasted about five minutes. At its end, a military force arrived at the scene, but the soldiers did nothing to assist the residents, the activists, or the injured, and allowed the settler attackers to flee without attempting to detain them.

Two residents of the village were evacuated to Beita Hospital, where one of them was diagnosed with fractures to the vertebrae and required surgery. Three activists were treated at Israeli hospitals. Kaminer, one of the activists, required stitches to her head and underwent surgery for a complex fracture to her right arm. Seven additional residents who were injured in the attack, some by club blows and others by pepper spray, were treated at the scene.

B’Tselem field researcher Naser Nawaj’ah collected testimonies from a few of the victims:

Tair Kaminer, a solidarity activist, recounted:

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I am a solidarity activist in Masafer Yatta. 

As often happens, on Tuesday I was in Khirbet Qawawis because a settler was grazing his flock on privately owned Palestinian land. Together with several residents, I watched the settler graze the sheep inside a privately owned Palestinian olive plot. I and my friend S., who was with me, documented him trespassing and the sheep grazing in the grove. The settler started talking on the phone, and I think he called other settlers, who later attacked us.

Suddenly, we saw 12 masked people running towards us. They were carrying clubs. The resident women and children ran into the houses, and I kept filming. I recognized the first attacker – a settler known as Shimon. The day before the incident, Shimon had been in the village together with five other settlers who tried to enter residents’ homes and attacked volunteers.

He arrived first and attacked T., he struck his arm with a club. T. moved about three meters away and I didn’t see him again. After that, they started beating everyone, some with clubs, some with fists and stones.

The first blow I received knocked me to the ground. After that, the attackers moved toward the residents’ homes. I barely managed to get into the khirbeh. My whole body hurt, especially my right arm where I had lost all feeling. The door of the house I reached was locked, and I heard smashing noises and Palestinians shouting. I sat near the house and called one of the activists. I spoke quietly so the settlers wouldn’t hear me and asked for an ambulance.

I stayed there, and then the settlers returned to the place where they had beaten me earlier. I heard them searching and asking, “Where is she?” Eventually they found me. They attacked me again, took my phone and my camera, and said to me, “We’ll do Sde Teiman to you.”

They attacked me a third time, and then I ran away. I waited about five minutes until I heard only Arabic. Despite the beating I’d gotten, I managed to walk to the place where the residents had gathered, a few meters away. The military and the police arrived there.

An ambulance from the Palestinian Red Crescent evacuated us to Beita Governmental Hospital. We received treatment there, and afterward we were transferred by an Israeli ambulance to a hospital in Jerusalem.

T.N., a resident of the community, recounted:

On Tuesday, 26 August 2025, at 6:00 P.M., me, my neighbor, our wives and two Israeli volunteers were hanging out when suddenly more than 10 settlers arrived and immediately began beating me and the volunteers. Some of them smashed windows, broke down the door of the house, tried to get inside and destroyed all the kitchen appliances. They also vandalized the animal feed and sprayed pepper spray inside the houses, making the women and children choke. I was injured in my head, left arm and back. The Israeli volunteers were also injured and suffered fractures and bruises.

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The settlers also entered my neighbor’s sheep pen, beat him and caused fractures to his lower back. I tried to push them away from the women and children, and then seven settlers chased after me. Two of them chased my son S., who was out grazing. One of the settlers was armed with a knife. At that time, my sons arrived from Carmel, and when the settlers saw them, they immediately fled toward the road, where cars were waiting for them and took them toward the settlement of Mitzpe Yair.

The police and the military arrived, walked around between the houses and asked us to show them the documentation, which we gave them. That night, at 1:00 A.M., the police returned, conducted another patrol and photographed the houses. The next day, we went to the police station in Kiryat Arba and filed a complaint.

Eliana Padwa, a solidarity activist, recounted:

On 28 June 2025, I was in the eastern area of Khirbet Qawawis after residents called us and reported that a settler was in the grazing area. The residents asked us to call the police. We called, and at that point the settler moved closer with his flock and began grazing in the crops around the homes.

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When the military arrived, the settler had already moved away from the houses, and the soldiers said he was allowed to graze there. An argument began between us and the soldiers, and we asked them to bring representatives of the Civil Administration to check the status of the land. Throughout this time, I stayed in contact with the police, who asked several times for our location, and I sent it to them. The soldiers told us to wait for the Civil Administration and stood a few meters away from us. After about 40 minutes, they left without speaking to us, and the settler continued moving away through the valley toward the western part of Khirbet Qawawis.

At around 6:00 P.M., someone wearing a military uniform arrived on an ATV. He drove around near the home of one of the residents that had been demolished in the past, stayed there until 6:13 P.M., and then left, driving in the direction of the settlement of Mitzpe Yair.

At around 6:30 P.M., another activist and I saw 12 masked settlers running quickly westward toward Khirbet Qawawis. We called the activists who were there to warn them, and we called the police again and asked them to come quickly.

I sent the police our location, and while I was speaking with them, we ran toward the place where the other activists were. We heard shouting, sounds of blows, and breaking. it was terrifying.

We tried to reach the area from another direction so we wouldn’t run into the settlers, but two of them saw us and attacked us. The activist who was with me was struck on the head. I lay down on the ground and put my hands over my head to protect it. I took the blows on my arms, and I think that it was only when other activists came that the settlers ran away.

​​The activist who was attacked with me was evacuated by a Magen David Adom ambulance. I was evacuated by a Palestinian ambulance to Beita Governmental Hospital and afterward to a hospital in Jerusalem.