Salim Shehadeh, 71, is a shepherd who lives in the village of ‘Urif, close to Nablus. On Saturday, 2 June 2018, at about 5:00 PM, Shehadeh was on his way home after grazing his sheep and harvesting fodder. When he was about 80 meters from the village homes, a settler hit him on the head from behind with a blunt object. He lost consciousness and was evacuated to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. In testimony taken by B'Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i in hospital the next day, Shehadeh stated:
Salim Shehadeh during his evacuation, 2 June 2018. Photo courtesy of the family
I was walking toward the village; our land and the settlement of Yitzhar were behind me. Suddenly, someone hit me on the head with a large object, and I lost consciousness. I woke up in hospital and at first, I couldn’t remember anything about what happened to me. It came back to me only later, after I’d recovered a bit. I didn’t see the person who attacked me, because he came from behind, and I didn’t sense that anyone was approaching. My hearing isn’t too good anymore either. I had some wounds on my head, and they stitched them up. I also have wounds above and behind my ear, and a large wound in my right ear. I still feel dizzy and tired.
A village resident who lives near the scene of the incident saw the assault and saw settlers approaching the village. He alerted village residents, who arrived within a few minutes. Some of them took Salim Shehadeh to the clinic in the village, from where he was evacuated to hospital. Clashes erupted on the scene between the approximately 30 settlers and a similar number of villagers. After about 15 minutes, the settlers began to retreat toward the settlement of Yitzhar. When they were approximately 500 meters away, a military jeep arrived, and four soldiers got out. Under the soldiers’ protection, the settlers returned to the scene, and the clashes continued. The soldiers and settlers assaulted the villagers. The soldiers began firing live rounds in the air and throwing stun grenades and teargas canisters at village residents. They also fired rubber-coated metal bullets and beat some of the Palestinians with rifle butts. Three residents were injured by the soldiers’ violence – one by a “rubber” bullet and two by blows from rifle butts.
Nothing about this incident is exceptional: not the fact that a settler assaulted a 71-year-old man, not the entry of settlers into a Palestinian village with the goal of assaulting the residents, and not the involvement of soldiers in the attack. Such incidents occur routinely, with the full support of senior military officers and government ministers, and no attempt is made tostop or prevent them. This incident is yet another example of how unprotected Palestinians are in the West Bank and how vulnerable they are to violence from soldiers and settlers at any moment. This reality is no coincidence: it is the product of the deliberate policy Israel has been implementing in the Occupied Territories for over 50 years.
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Bahajat a-Safdi at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. Photo by Salma a-Deb'i, B'Tselem, 3 June 2018
Bahajat a-Safdi, 32, married and father of two, is a desk officer with the Palestinian Authority National Security Service. In testimony taken by B'Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i on the day after the incident, A-Safdi described what he saw and his own injury by a “rubber” bullet:
On Saturday, 2 June 2018, at about 5:30 PM, I set off with Ibrahim Shehadeh, a friend of mine from the village, in his car to get takeout from a restaurant in Huwarah, because we’d invited guests for the meal after the fast. On the way, we heard them announcing over the mosque loudspeakers that there were settlers on the eastern side of the village and they’d attacked a shepherd there. Ibrahim said that he was worried that it was his uncle, Salim Shehadeh, who often takes his flock out there. We drove over there, and as we approached the water tower, we saw some youths from the village and lots of settlers who had taken up position behind the tower. The youths told us that the settlers had come from the direction of the home of the a-Nuri family. We went there to look for Salim, and when we got there, we saw some youths, including his son, ‘Amer Shehadeh, carrying him. Salim was bleeding and unconscious. We put him in the car and took him to the clinic in the village, but the doctor told us to take him to hospital immediately. We called for an ambulance, and Salim’s son stayed there at the clinic and waited for it.
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Area of the incident. The 'Urif water tower is visible at the top right, surrounded by walls
Ibrahim and I went back to the area by the water tower. In the meantime, more villager residents had arrived. There were 30 settlers there, or more, most of them had their faces covered and carried wooden clubs. Both sides threw stones. The village residents tried to move the settlers away from the homes by throwing stones. At first, they managed to do it, and the settlers moved away a bit. But after they had gone about 500 meters, a military jeep arrived with four soldiers in it. I thought that they would make the settlers go back to the settlement, but instead, the soldiers moved toward us, and the settlers followed them. The soldiers fired live ammunition into the air and threw stun and gas grenades. The residents ran off or hid behind trees, and then came back to try again to move the settlers away from the village. I tried as much as I could to move the youths away from the scene and calm things down. I also spoke to one of the soldiers and told him that I’m a Palestinian security worker and that we didn’t want any problems. I asked him to move the settlers away, and we’d move the youths away. But the soldiers wouldn’t listen. They pushed the youths and shouted at them to move away, without doing anything about the settlers.
I managed to move the youths away back into the village. In the meantime, I saw a soldier beating Raed Sabah, 49, on the head with a rifle butt, and the settlers throwing stones in his direction. Together with some other people, I went back to the scene to get him out. The soldiers kept on throwing stun grenades, shouting, and pushing the village residents. Every time the youths went back in the direction of the village, the settlers threw stones at them, and when the youths turned round to respond, the soldiers chased them and completely ignored the fact that it was the settlers who were attacking us.
While I was trying to move the youths away, I heard a soldier say in Arabic “shoot him.” I thought he was talking about someone else, but then I saw the second soldier, who was very close to me, aim his weapon at me, just a few centimeters from my groin. I turned around, so that I wouldn’t be hit, and then I heard a loud sound. I felt terrible pain and fell down. The pain was unbearable, and I cried out. I didn’t think the soldier would shoot me, because I hadn’t been doing anything, and earlier I had spoken calmly with the soldiers. The youths lifted me up and took me to the clinic in ‘Urif, and then on to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. They took x-rays and discovered that I’d been hit by a “rubber” bullet in my buttocks. I had an operation that night to remove the bullet. It still hurts, and I can’t walk unaided. I’ll be in hospital for a few more days.
Instead of enjoying a family meal that evening, to mark the end of the fast, it turned into a sad occasion because of the settlers, who constantly disrupt our lives and attack us. A few months ago, ‘Umayr Shehadeh, a youth from the village, was shot and killed by soldiers during a similar attack by the settlers.
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Raed Sabah with his wife in their home. Photo by Salma a-Deb'i, B'Tselem, 3 June 2018
In testimony taken on 3 June 2018 by B'Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i, Raed Sabah, 49, married and father of eight, described his injury after he arrived on the scene::
Because I speak Hebrew well, I tried together with Mazen Shehadeh, the head of the council, and other residents to calm the situation. We asked the soldiers to move the settlers away in order to stop things escalating. I told one soldier that we didn’t want any trouble with the settlers and that if they left the area things would calm down. He shouted at me and pushed me several times, telling me, “Get out of here” and “Shut your mouth.” I asked him why he was answering by shouting when I was talking to him quietly. He pushed me and almost knocked me over, and then he hit me on the head with his rifle. My forehead bled above my left eye. I fell to the ground, and the settlers surrounded me, punching me and throwing stones at my back and waist.
The youths took me away from there and helped me get to the clinic. I had bruises in all sorts of parts of my body, and I’d dislodged one of the fingers on my right hand. They gave me three stitches above my eye. The doctor told me to stay in hospital for observation, but I refused and promised to come back if there were any problems, because I wanted to break the fast with my family. My four daughters were waiting for me at home, along with my two sisters and all the other guests. They hadn’t eaten or drunk anything because they were worried about me. When I arrived, my daughters cried. Everyone had lost their appetite and ate only a little bit. When I woke up the next morning, my whole body was aching, particularly my back and the right side of my waist.
‘Abd a-Rahman Shehadeh rode his electric bike from work to the scene of the incident, after hearing the announcements from the mosques. As the events were unfolding, he saw one of the settlers stealing his bike, which he had left by a tree nearby. He went up to the soldiers to complain about the theft. In response, one of them hit him on the head with a rifle butt. In his testimony, Shehadeh stated:
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Abd a-Rahman Shehadeh. Photo by Salma a-Deb'i, B'Tselem, 5 June 2018
I’d left my bike by an almond tree about 100 meters away from the settlers. I couldn’t get to it because the settlers and soldiers were moving toward me. The settlement security guard was standing close to the bike. I saw one of the settlers get on it and ride away. I told one of the soldiers that the settlers had stolen by bike, but he wasn’t interested in listening. He just shouted at me and told me to go away. Then suddenly he hit me with his weapon on the head, and straight away it started bleeding. I put my hand over the wound, and some youths from the village went with me to a car belonging to one of the villagers who drove me to the clinic in the center of the village. The doctor sewed stitches in my forehead. Then I went by bus to Rafidia Hospital because I also felt pain on the left side of my jaw. They x-rayed me, and it turned out that no bones were broken, thank God. I got home after 9:00 PM. The next day I went to file a complaint at the Palestinian DCO. They told me that they’d deal with the matter. I’m still waiting for a response.
Since the current Israeli government took office at the end of 2022, and even more so since October 2023, Israel has dramatically escalated its assault on all aspects of Palestinian life in the West Bank. At any moment, Palestinians may be exposed to violence by soldiers or armed settler militias, arrested and imprisoned, subjected to abuse and humiliation, and sometimes even killed.The Elimination Project draws on more than 2,000 testimonies B’Tselem collected from Palestinians since October 2023 and over three decades of documenting the Israeli apartheid regime’s human rights abuses in the West Bank. The report looks at the current reality not as a collection of isolated incidents or specific harms, but as part of a comprehensive mechanism of elimination that works to dismantle the conditions for continued Palestinian existence in the West Bank, while deepening Jewish control and supremacy in an irreversible manner. An examination of the current reality in the West Bank reveals that the project of elimination is now being implemented more openly, directly and violently than before, and increasingly relies on cooperation between official state authorities and settler militias operating in the West Bank with state backing and support.
On Tuesday, 30 August 2022, at around 5:00 P.M., three young settlers drove a car through the village of Kisan in Bethlehem District. They sped inside the village and ran over a goat belonging to a local resident. They then tried to escape, but their car was blocked by a vehicle carrying cargo and they had to slow down. At that point, children and youths from the village threw stones at them and smashed the car windows. The settlers turned around and left the village. They returned some 15 minutes later, with about 15 other settlers and about 10 soldiers. The settlers threw stones at village homes in front of the soldiers, who refused to intervene when locals approached them. Some youths from the village threw stones at the settlers in an attempt to fend them off. One of the settlers drew a handgun and fired a single bullet towards the village residents. The soldiers fired a barrage of tear gas canisters at the homes, causing some residents to choke. They received first aid from Palestinian paramedics who arrived at the scene. At around 7:00 P.M., the settlers and most of the soldiers left the village. It is not uncommon for settlers to enter Kisan. Local residents, especially the shepherds, are by now used to harassment almost every day. While violent assaults, as occurred in this incident, are rarer, they do occur in the village due to Israel’s overall policy in the West Bank. This policy also explains why soldiers were present during the incident, why they refused to intervene and protect the Palestinian residents, and why they took action only after Palestinians began throwing stones too. On 1 September 2022, B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari collected testimonies from residents of Kisan who were hurt in the incident. Saleh al-’Abayat (59), a father of eight, said: I have 250 heads of sheep, which provide my family’s livelihood. On 30 August 2022, at around 5:00 P.M., I was sitting by my house. A car with three young settlers inside drove along the nearby road at a crazy speed. They ran over a goat that belongs to our neighbor, ‘Adnan al-’Abayat, near his house. The settlers tried to get away, but a vehicle carrying hay was driving in front of them, so they had to slow down. Some kids and young guys from the village threw stones at them and shattered the windows. The settlers turned around and drove off. About 15 minutes later, they came back with more than 15 settlers and two military jeeps, which let out about 10 soldiers. The settlers threw stones at village homes in front of the soldiers. Some residents asked the soldiers to make the settlers to back away, but the soldiers ignored them, so some kids and young guys started throwing stones too, to try and make the settlers leave. One of the settlers drew a handgun and fired one shot in their direction, and the soldiers started firing dozens of tear gas canisters at village homes. I heard women and children screaming all over the village. Before I managed to run away and take cover, some tear gas canisters landed near me. I think there were four. The gas surrounded me from every direction, and I fell down. I passed out, and when I came to, maybe a few minutes later, I saw I was far from my house and next to a Palestinian ambulance whose crew was giving me first aid. They put an oxygen mask on my face. The soldiers were still firing tear gas canisters. At around 7:00 P.M., a Civil Administration car arrived. An officer, who I think is the area commander, got out. He shouted at the residents who were throwing stones at the settlers, and then the soldiers and the settlers left. Red Crescent crews treated people who were choking on the tear gas. I still have trouble breathing, and my eyes are stinging. Thank God, my grandchildren weren’t hurt. My daughter-in-law took them to the top floor and shut the windows and doors, so they weren’t hurt. ‘Adnan al-’Abayat (33), a father of three, said: On Tuesday, 30 August 2022, at around 5:00 P.M., I was sitting in the yard by the house with my family. I saw a car with an Israeli license plate speeding along a road in our village, with three young settlers inside. Three children who were playing on the road ran away. The car kept going and ran over a goat of ours that was in the pasture by our house, near the road. After that the settlers tried to escape, but a vehicle carrying hay was driving ahead of them so they had to slow down. Some young guys and kids from the village attacked the car with stones and smashed its windows. At some point, the settlers managed to get away. About 15 minutes later, they came back with more settlers and two military jeeps. They threw stones at residents’ homes, and the soldiers did nothing to try and stop them. Young guys from the village threw stones back at them, and then one of the settlers drew his gun and fired one bullet in their direction. At that point, the soldiers started raining tear gas canisters down on the homes. The canisters landed in the yards of homes, making many residents choke, including elderly people, children and sick people. My wife Sabah (32) and our little kids choked on it, too. I tried to reassure them, to take them inside and give them first aid, but before I could do it, one of the canisters hit my 7-year-old son Ayham on the left side of his face. While I was trying to help him, I saw my neighbor, Saleh al-’Abayat (59), choke and fall over. I left Ayham with my wife and ran over to him, and a tear gas canister hit me in the left leg. In the meantime, two Palestinian ambulances came and gave us all first aid. They bandaged my leg. At around 7:00 P.M., an officer came in a Civil Administration car, and it was only then that the soldiers stopped firing tear gas. The settlers left the area. The officer yelled at us, accusing us of attacking the settlers and wrecking their car, and then he left the area with the rest of the soldiers, except six who stayed. Samaher al-’Abayat (41), a mother of eight, said: At around 5:30 P.M., I was sitting with my family in the yard when I heard screaming in the village. We saw settlers attacking the village. Before I managed to get the children inside, and before my husband managed to get the flock into the pen, tear gas canisters started landing in the yard. My young kids, ‘Ali (4), Ahmad (6), Azhar (7) and Jawaher (9), started screaming and crying. One of the canisters hit a sheep directly in the leg. The kids felt like they were choking, and their eyes stung. They screamed and writhed in pain. Ahmad has liver disease, and the first thing on my mind was getting him away from the yard, where the canisters were falling and sending gas clouds up everywhere. My husband choked too, while he was trying to gather all the flock to get them inside the pen. I tried to calm the children down after I got them inside. I tried using onion to ease the effect of the gas. Then a team of Palestinian paramedics came to the village. They gave us first aid – my husband, my young boys and me. The tear gas firing went on until about 7:00 P.M. My kids didn’t sleep that night because of the pain and stinging in their eyes, especially Ahmad, who also had a stomach ache. My eyes also still hurt and sting, and I’m having trouble seeing.
On Saturday, 25 September 2021, at around 6:30 P.M., four women and two girls – 9 and 12 years old – from the Tamimi (a-Zaru) family went to spend time on land that belongs to their family, which lies near their homes in the Jabal Jales neighborhood of Hebron. The outpost of Giv'at Gal was established about 50 meters from the plot, next to the settlement of Kiryat Arba. Shortly after they sat down, two teens arrived and began swearing at them. The women and girls ran home, with the teens giving chase and throwing stones at them, one of which hit Riham Tamimi (34) in the leg. After the women got home, Riham's brothers Faraj (36) and Hamed (42) went to the military post at the entrance to the outpost to complain about the assault. When they got there, they saw two soldiers along with the two teens. The soldiers and teens argued with the brothers and swore at them. Meanwhile, about 30 more soldiers arrived and an officer ordered the brothers to go home. When the two brothers reached the entrance to the path leading to their house, they noticed five soldiers following them. The argument resumed and the soldiers attacked Hamed. Faraj tried to fend them off and pushed two of the soldiers, at which point they pounced on him, beat him and kicked him all over his body. One of the soldiers threatened him at gunpoint and another tied his hands. Faraj was then taken to a nearby military base. While he was waiting there, one of the soldiers who had beaten him attacked him again with a metal object and threatened to kill him. Several hours later, Faraj was taken to the police station at Beitar Illit. The two soldiers who had assaulted his brother and him rode with him in the jeep. Upon arrival, one of the soldiers was interrogated while Faraj stayed with the other soldier, who demanded that he not mention the assault in the interrogation. The second soldier was then interrogated, after which Faraj was interrogated. The interrogator accused him of assaulting soldiers and throwing stones, allegations he vehemently denied. After about an hour, the interrogator said he had a court hearing scheduled in six months and had to pay NIS 1,000 (~325 USD) in bail. Faraj returned home at 2:00 A.M. With that, another routine day under the occupation came to an end. A family spending leisure time on their land had to flee violent teens, and appealing to soldiers for help led to severe violence, false arrest, interrogation carried out against all regulations and payment of hundreds of dollars. In a testimony she gave B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari, Riham a-Tamimi (a-Zaru) (34), a mother of two, described what happened that day: I’m a teacher at the Yusra a-Natsheh Boys’ School in Hebron, and I volunteer with B’Tselem’s camera project. I live with my mother Nura (65), my father Shaker (74) and my daughter Razan (9). My brothers and uncles live next door with their families. Our house is on the road leading to the outpost of Giv’at Gal, which was established 50 meters away. On Saturday, 25 September 2021, at around 6:30 P.M., I went with my mother, my daughter Razan, and my cousins Rawnad (20), Hanin (18) and Shahd (12) to sit on our land, which is between our house and the outpost. Suddenly, two settlers, both about 15 years old, showed up and started swearing at us. They were holding pepper-spray canisters. We decided to go home. The two settlers followed us to the entrance to the path that leads to our homes. On the way, they threw stones at us and we ran home. One of the stones hit me in the right leg. It hurt a lot. I started crying and shouting at the settlers. My brother Faraj (36) came and when the two settlers saw him, they immediately ran towards the outpost. Faraj saw that I was crying and was injured in the leg. He called my brother Hamed and they both went to the military post at the entrance to the outpost to tell the soldiers what happened. I stayed in the yard to see what was going on with them. I also tried to film it on my phone. There were two soldiers at the post. The two settlers teens who had attacked us were standing next to them. I heard them arguing. There was shouting between my brothers and the two soldiers and the teens. Then another settler joined in. She looked about 40 years old. I saw more soldiers come to the post. After about 20 minutes, I saw Hamed and Faraj come back. As soon as they got to the entrance to our path, five soldiers showed up and started arguing with them. I saw two of the soldiers attack Hamed and beat him. Faraj tried to defend him and pushed the two soldiers, but then the soldiers started beating him, too, and pointing their weapons at him. My mother and I were shaking with fear. We were afraid the soldiers would shoot my brothers. Meanwhile, my uncles Rashed and Radi arrived. They tried to free Faraj from the soldiers. Two of the soldiers tied Faraj’s hands behind his back and led him towards the military base. In his testimony, Faraj Tamimi (a-Zaru) (36), a father of six, described being beaten and arrested by the soldiers: On Saturday evening, I got home after a day’s work in construction. As soon as I got to the path leading to our house, I saw two settlers, about 15 years old, chasing women from my family including my sister Riham (34) and my mother Nura (65). The settlers were throwing stones and swearing at them. I saw that one stone had hit Riham in the leg. The two settlers ran away when they saw me. I called my brother Hamed (42) and we went together to the military post at the entrance to the outpost of Giv’at Gal, which is about 50 meters away from our home, to talk to the soldiers. When we got to the post, there were two soldiers there along with the two settlers who had thrown the stones. I told the soldiers what they’d done. To my surprise, one of the soldiers swore at me and told us to get lost. We got into a loud argument with the soldiers and the settlers. Then another settler arrived, possibly the teens’ mother, and she joined in the argument. Meanwhile, I saw one of the soldiers talking on a two-way radio, and then about 30 more soldiers showed up. I spoke with an officer and told him what happened, but he also swore at Hamed and me and ordered us to leave. When we reached the path leading to our house, we were surprised by about five soldiers who must have followed us. They yelled at us and swore at us, and we yelled back at them. While we were arguing, they jumped Hamed and started punching him. I got between Hamed and the soldiers in order to protect him. I tried to fend off the soldiers, shouted at them and pushed them. They immediately accused me of assaulting them and started hitting me, too. They beat me and kicked me all over my body and face, and my left eyebrow started bleeding. Meanwhile, my uncles Rashed (65) and Radi (52) came out of the house and tried to calm the soldiers down and stop them attacking me. One soldier pressed his weapon to my chest and another twisted my arm behind my back. They tied my hands together with zip ties and led me to a spot near a military camp in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, where they sat me down on the ground and then swore at me and threatened to kill me. While I was sitting there, one of the soldiers who had attacked Hamed and me hit me with a sharp metal object, which was like brass knuckles, in the right side of my chest and in my stomach. It hurt a lot and I started shouting. The soldiers pulled him off me. I was screaming in pain, and then two soldiers pulled me to my feet and put me in a military jeep. I sat there for about 10 minutes, and then one of the soldiers got into the jeep and threatened to kill me if I didn’t calm down. He took me out of the jeep and sat me down on the ground again. I sat there for about an hour Then the soldiers led me into the camp and left me in the yard for about two and a half hours. Five soldiers watched over me and all that time, kept cursing and mocking me. Then a man in military uniform came and asked if I had any illnesses, and I said I didn’t. I told him I was in pain from the soldiers’ beating, especially the beating with the sharp metal object. He examined me, cleaned the wounds on my head, stomach and chest, and put some iodine on them. Later, the two soldiers who had attacked Hamed and me came over and threatened to kill me, but a soldier who was there wouldn’t let them near me. I was put in a jeep and taken to the police station outside the settlement of Beitar Illit. The two soldiers who had attacked us rode with me in the jeep. Before we entered the police station, a police officer came over to us. He swore at me and shouted at me, “Keep your head down, eyes to the ground!” Then he told the two soldiers to leave me in the yard One of the soldiers went into a room with the interrogator and I stayed outside with the other soldier, the one who had attacked me with the sharp object. He told me not to tell the interrogator he’d attacked me, but I refused. He insisted that I not mention it, but I said that the camp’s cameras had documented the attack and that I would file a complaint against him . After about half an hour, the first soldier came out of the interrogation room and the second soldier went in. After he came out half an hour later, I was taken in for questioning. There was an interpreter there. An interrogator who introduced himself as Rafi spoke to me and accused me of assaulting soldiers and throwing stones. He threatened to arrest me and lock me up. I denied the allegations and told him that the soldiers and settlers were the ones who had attacked my family and me for no reason. The interrogation lasted about an hour, and then the interrogator informed me that I had a court hearing scheduled for 5 April 2022. He told me I had to pay NIS 3,000 (~972 USD) in bail. My uncle Rashed came and talked to him. He managed to get the sum down to NIS 1,000 (~325 USD), which he paid on the spot. We left the station and got home around 2:00 A.M. I was exhausted and aching. I’m still in pain all over my body.
