Yabrud, Ramallah District, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian family on their farmland and stole sheep

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On Monday, 6 April 2026, at around 3:00 P.M., messages spread on Yabrud social media groups about settlers gathering in the eastern part of the village, near the Meguri Family Farm outpost. By about 3:30 P.M., there were already about 30 people there.

At the same time, a military vehicle arrived at the outpost, stayed there briefly and, after it left, the settlers began advancing, some in vehicles and some on foot, in the direction of the village. Shortly after, a group of settlers reached the home of S.D., a village resident, and began throwing stones at the house, its windows and neighboring homes. The settlers also broke into S.D.’s sheep pen and stole his flock. He saw three settlers leading his flock, about 30 sheep, towards a nearby outpost.

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At the same time, another group of settlers advanced towards a family of farmers who were working their land. The family, residents of the nearby village of Silwad whose land lies near Yabrud, began making their way out of the area when they learned settlers were in the vicinity, but before they managed to get away, they were attacked by about seven of them.

The settlers, who were masked and armed with sticks and pepper spray, attacked the family members, including a nine-month-pregnant young woman, beat them, pepper-sprayed them and stole the keys to one of their cars and a mobile phone. Settlers beat the family’s father, F.H., 59, and one of them pressed a gun to his head.

After about 10 minutes, the settlers left the area, and the family members were evacuated in an ambulance, called by Yabrud residents, to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. Physicians at the hospital diagnosed a hemorrhage in F.H.’s kidney and treated the rest of the family for bruises. All of them were discharged that evening.

B’Tselem field researcher Mohammad Romaneh collected testimonies from several residents:

S.D, 63, a father of seven, said:

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On Monday, 6 April 2026, I went out to graze the sheep on the village’s land. As far as I remember, I went out before 2:00 P.M., but at around 3:00 P.M., when I was in the southern fields of the village, I got reports from local groups about a settler vehicle on the village’s main road, so I started heading back home. I arrived around 3:30 P.M. and led the sheep into the pen to the southeast of the house. I saw several photos on local social media of settlers gathering near the outpost north of the village and of a military vehicle that had arrived there and then headed towards the village. As soon as the military vehicle left the outpost for the village, we saw settler vehicles also leaving the outpost for the village and its eastern homes near Route 60, and a few other settlers approaching the village on foot.

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There were about 20 to 25 masked settlers, who looked to me about 20 to 30 years old. I saw the same settlers in the local group standing hundreds of meters away from my home, and then suddenly, I heard strange noises around the house. I opened the southern door to see what was going on, and the settlers started throwing stones at me, hitting the windows, so I had to go back inside. I was afraid to go out and confront the settlers and couldn’t stop them from going over to my sheep pen. I also heard them going to nearby homes and their residents helplessly shouting at the settlers.

I saw about 10 settlers manage to open my sheep pen and take the sheep out, and three of them led the flock towards the outpost. The rest of the group went back towards the village’s eastern homes. The settlers split into small groups: one group attacked homes in the village with stones, and another stole the flock.

The settlers who went back towards the homes attacked a family from Silwad who were on their land.

I’ve stopped keeping sheep altogether since then. This wasn’t the first time settlers stole sheep from my pen. The sheep were an important source of income for my family, but now I’m worried that if I buy more, the settlers will come back and steal them too. I think they deliberately target the homes of sheep farmers.

F.H., 59, father of eight, a resident of Silwad, said:

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On Monday, 6 April 2026, at 8:00 A.M., I arrived with my wife, my son Z.H., 21, and his wife, 19, who is nine months pregnant, at our field where we grow seasonal crops. We came in my car and my son’s car, parked them outside the fence around the field and then started working.

There were no settlers around, and we worked in peace until around 4:00 P.M., when reports started appearing on local social media groups about settlers in Yabrud. I immediately asked my family members to get ready to leave, fearing the settlers would harm us. Settlers have come close to our field in the past, but didn’t enter it or attack any of us.

We got organized and left the field towards the cars. My son Z.H. and I went first, and as soon as we went out through the gate in the field’s fence, we were surprised to see seven to nine settlers running towards us. They were all masked and wearing civilian clothes. Two of them stopped and started filming us on their phones, and the others kept running towards us. When they reached us, they demanded in Arabic that we hand over our phones.

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We refused, and they pepper-sprayed us in the face. I felt a strong burning in my face and immediately fell to the ground. Before that, I saw Z.H. throw his phone and car key under my car. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t see well. At that moment, the settlers violently pounced on us, just as my wife and daughter-in-law reached the field gate, a few meters away from us.

I was beaten in the face, head and shoulder. The blows came so fast that I felt that more than one settler was beating me. I could hear my wife and daughter-in-law screaming. I was very afraid for them, especially for my daughter-in-law because of the pregnancy. I couldn’t stand up, so I tried to crawl towards them, but one of the settlers pressed the barrel of a gun to my head and threatened me in Arabic: “I’ll shoot you if you keep moving.” I froze in place from fear.

Then the settlers searched me, took the phone and car key from my pocket and then went over to my wife and daughter-in-law, took my daughter-in-law’s bag and stole her phone, ID card and wallet. My son’s wife and my wife later told me that the settlers beat them on various parts of their bodies, but my wife protected my daughter-in-law’s belly for fear the fetus would be harmed. They also told me the settlers pulled off their hijabs before leaving the area.

They beat all of us brutally, and the assault went on for at least 10 to 15 minutes. After they left, a Silwad municipality ambulance came and evacuated us to the Palestine Medical Complex in the city of Ramallah, where we were all examined and found to have bruises and contusions on various parts of our bodies. In my case, in addition to bruises and contusions, they found bleeding in the right kidney. We were all mainly worried about my daughter-in-law and the fetus in her womb, but the doctors confirmed that both were in good health, even though she had taken several blows. They treated us and then discharged us.

After we were evacuated from the area, residents of Yabrud arranged to have my car towed away, since the settlers had stolen the keys, and then drove away my son’s car, the keys to which were under mine. Later, I found out that the settlers had broken a screen inside my car and stolen several documents from it. I also learned that these same settlers attacked the home next to our field and managed to steal sheep from the family’s pen, and that they also attacked more homes in Yabrud and smashed windows there.

Despite the serious assault we went through, I will continue to come to my field to work it because it is my main source of income, in addition to the chickens I raise.