Beit Lid, Tulkarm District: Settlers broke into a farm in Area B and stole a flock of ten pregnant sheep and at least one dog

On Wednesday, 18 February 2026, at around 3:00 A.M., five masked settlers were caught on camera breaking into the Daridi family’s farm in the a-Sahlat area, located in the northern section of Beit Lid’s farmland, Area B under the Oslo Accords. The settlers arrived in a pickup truck with a trailer, cut through the sheep pen’s metal bars with a welding machine, went inside and stole ten pregnant sheep, a dog, sacks of animal feed, veterinary medicines and farming equipment. They also damaged some of the security cameras.

Three masked settlers, one armed with a baseball bat, entering the farm on foot. Still from security camera footage, video courtesy of the farm owners

Walid Daridi and his father built the farm about four years ago on the family’s land. Around December 2023, settlers established the outpost Nofei Elhanan on village land east of the settlement of Einav, about one kilometer north of the farm. In recent months, settlers arriving from the outpost began wandering around the farm, coming near it and sometimes taunting family members. Afraid to leave the farm, the family members started staying in it until midnight every night and then returning to their home in the center of the village.

After the theft, Daridi filed a complaint with the Palestinian police in Tulkarm and also reported the incident to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture.

Walid Daridi, 31, recounted the following in a testimony he gave to B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 24 February 2026:

I work as a driver and raise sheep to help support my family. About four years ago, my father and I started a farm on our land, north of the village of Beit Lid where we live, in an area called a-Sahlat, which is classified as Area B. We have a pen on the farm where we raised ten sheep, and we made a living selling their milk and the lambs they gave birth to.
After October 2023, an outpost was established on our village’s land, east of the settlement of Einav, about one kilometer in a straight line from our farm. In recent months, settlers coming from the outpost started wandering around the farm and sometimes taunting us. Because we were afraid of an attack, we started staying on the farm until midnight, then going back to sleep in our home in the center of the village.

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The pen with the ten sheep and the settlers trying to break into it. Still from security camera footage, video courtesy of the farm owners

On the first day of the month of Ramadan, 18 February 2026, after we ate the suhur meal [the pre-dawn meal before the start of the daily fast], my father and I went to sleep, and I didn’t check the live feed from the farm’s security cameras beforehand. When I woke up, I checked the night’s recordings and was shocked to see five settlers cutting the pen’s metal bars and stealing all the sheep inside, along with five sacks of animal feed and several farming tools.
The settlers also broke some of the security cameras and changed their angles so they would not record them during the theft. They loaded the sheep onto a trailer that was towed by the vehicle they arrived in. My father and I drove to the farm, which is about a kilometer and a half from the center of the village, and when we got there, we saw the damage: all the sheep were stolen, and so were five sacks of feed, some of the veterinary medicines and some farming equipment, including a sickle, a wood-cutting machine, an air pump and a “Blanco”, a device used to lift sheep. The guard dogs were also stolen. We estimate the damage at tens of thousands of shekels (1 NIS ~0.32 USD).
I filed a complaint with the Palestinian police in Tulkarm, and also reported what happened on our farm to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in Tulkarm.