’Urif, Nablus District: Dozens of settlers invaded a quarry, attacked the workers and set heavy machinery and vehicles on fire

On Wednesday, 21 January 2026, at about 8:00 A.M., dozens of settlers armed with clubs and carrying flammable material raided a quarry belonging to ’Issam a-Safdi, from ‘Urif, and located alongside the ’Urif – ’Asirah al-Qibliyah road.

The settlers burned 13 vehicles parked at the site: three excavators, a bulldozer, a truck, a fire truck and seven cars belonging to quarry workers. They also attempted to set fire to the quarry office.

At the time, Mufid Sabah, 51, a father of six, was working one of the excavators. The settlers banged on the excavator with their clubs, and one of them pulled out a bottle filled with flammable liquid, while Sabah was still inside.

Sabah managed to get out of the excavator, but when he tried to escape, the settlers beat him on his back and head. He fell to the ground, and then the settlers threw a stone at his head, knocking him unconscious.

Sabah regained consciousness only after the settlers left the area. He was bleeding heavily. Local residents who had come to the quarry took him to a local clinic, together with another worker who had been beaten on the head with a club and injured. From there, the two were taken by ambulance to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus.

Two other workers were taken for medical treatment after inhaling smoke.

The attack lasted several minutes, after which the settlers withdrew toward the settlement of Yitzhar.

B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i collected testimonies from quarry workers:

Isma’il Safadi, 27, a father of one, related in his testimony:

On Wednesday, at around 7:00 A.M., I arrived at my workplace at the quarry. I sat in the office for a bit because it was cold, and at 7:57 A.M. I went out to check on the quarry grounds and the workers. Because of the cold, not everyone had arrived yet.

 

As I was making the rounds, I noticed a group of settlers coming from the direction of the settlement of Yitzhar. They were already about 15 meters away from the bulldozer that was working in the quarry. I tried to warn the driver, Mufid Sabah, and shouted to him with all my might, but he didn’t hear me because of the bulldozer noise and the wind. I also tried to tell the workers over the radio, but no one responded. I called out to two workers who were waiting in the room for the others to start working.

We went outside, and just then, the settlers came right up to us, and we didn’t know what to do. Everyone ran in different directions. There were about 50 of them, dressed in black and holding sticks. Some of them had backpacks on their backs.

As I was running, I saw two excavators on fire: the one Mufid Sabah was in and the other next to it.

 

The settlers pulled bottles out of their backpacks, apparently filled with flammable substances and set fire to cars, trucks, a forklift and everything in their path. They tried to set the office room on fire too.

As soon as I saw the settlers, I called the village WhatsApp group and left the line open so they could hear what was happening. I told them that settlers were attacking the quarry.

Meanwhile, another group of settlers arrived from the direction of the road. They set the first two excavators on fire, then the third one. They also set the workers’ cars on fire.

We tried to protect ourselves, but there were too many of them, and we couldn’t drive them away. The tools and equipment sustained very serious damage. Even the fire truck burned. This is a real catastrophe for our workplace.

Village residents arrived, honking their car horns to drive the settlers away, and the settlers did back away towards the settlement after burning everything.

I started checking on the workers. I saw S.S. was injured. He had taken a strong blow to the head, and his face was covered in blood. I sat him down on the ground and ran to look for Mufid Sabah. I was very worried for his life and thought he might have been killed. I found him unconscious, his face and clothes covered in blood. We poured water on him. He came to, but he was in pain and trembling all over. We lifted him together with some other guys, put him in a car and took him and S.S., to the village doctor’s clinic, and from there to Rafidya Hospital, where it turned out he had a broken arm, many bruises and a deep wound in the head.

We tried to put out the fires in the heavy machinery and the vehicles, but the fire was very strong.

Two other residents suffered from smoke inhalation while trying to help put out the fire and were taken to hospital, where they were treated and discharged the same day.

Now we’re all unemployed because all the quarry equipment burned. We do not know how we’ll go on; twelve families left with no source of income.

Mufid Sabah, 51, a father of six, related in his testimony:

 

When I arrived at the quarry, I went over to the Caterpillar excavator and started working. At around 8:00 A.M., while I was working, I saw about 15 settlers approaching, dressed in black and holding sticks and stones. They charged at the excavator, hit it with sticks, and one of them took out a plastic bottle containing a flammable substance.

I got scared and got out of the vehicle to run away, but they chased after me and beat me with sticks on my back and head. I fell to the ground, and then one of them threw a large stone at me that struck my head, and I lost consciousness.

I woke up to the sound of people calling my name and pouring water over me. My clothes were soaked in blood, and my head hurt badly. I felt dizzy and nauseous, and my left arm hurt badly. My friends carried me to the car of a local resident who had come to help. My colleague, S.S., who had also been attacked by the settlers and whose face was covered in blood, was in the car with me.

We were taken to a clinic in the town, where we received initial treatment. The doctor called an ambulance that took us to Rafidya Hospital for imaging tests and further treatment.

After the medical examinations, it turned out that I had a deep head wound that required stitches and a fracture in my left arm. My arm was put in a cast and the wound was stitched. After that, I was discharged.