Qawawis, South Hebron Hills: Palestinian shepherd harassed by soldiers, one of whom he knows as a settler, and taken to military base where other soldiers continue to abuse him
On Wednesday, 15 May 2024, at around 8:30 in the morning, while Jibril (Jibrin) Nu’man (59) was grazing his sheep on his private land adjacent to the village of Qawawis with two Israeli activists, three soldiers arrived, one of whom Nu’man knows as a soldier. The soldiers filmed them and asked Nu’man why he was grazing there. He replied that the police confirmed he was allowed access to the area. An argument ensued, and the soldiers told him he was being detained and took him away.
About five minutes later, three more soldiers arrived in a military vehicle, told Nu’man he was not allowed to be at the site and that he must keep a distance of 200 meters from the nearby road, and took him to the military base in Susiya. The soldiers at the base tied his hands behind his back, blindfolded him, sat him on a chair in the sun and hit him hard in the stomach. Nu’man fell from the chair and passed out for a few moments and could not get up when he came to. The soldiers left him lying on the ground for about an hour and a half, ignoring his calls for help and his requests for water. After some time, a soldier gave him some water, but left him lying on the ground in the sun. About two hours after his arrest, the soldiers stood Nu’man up, gave him water again, put him in the car and took him to the entrance to Qawawis, where they left him lying on the ground before driving away. Local residents and Israeli activists called an ambulance that took him to the governmental hospital in Yatta, where he was given painkillers and discharged after two hours.
Earlier this year, B’Tselem published footage of settlers and soldiers harassing Nu’man. On 8 July 2024, the Civil Administration demolished the home Nu’man shared with his wife.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Basel al-Adrah on 19 May 2024, Jibril Nu’man recounted his detention by soldiers, one of whom he recognized as settlers:
On the morning of Wednesday, 15 May 2024, I was grazing my sheep on my private fields in Qawawis, which I’ve been cultivating for decades. I had two Israeli activists with me.
At around 8:30 A.M., a car showed up with three soldiers, one of whom I know as a settler. They drove towards us while filming us and the flock. They got very close to us and then stopped the vehicle and got out, and one of them, who I know as a settler, told me: “How many times have I told you not to come here?” He meant near the road. I told him that the police had arrived and confirmed that I was allowed to be here. The soldier told me I wasn’t allowed to be there, and that I was detained. They dragged me away. I told them to call the police and the [Civil] Administration, and then one of them said he would take me to them. I insisted I wouldn’t go with them. I was afraid that if I went with them, they would abuse me again. He told me: “Come with us”, and then one of them filmed me, asking if I was refusing to go with them. It sounded like he was threatening me.
About five minutes later, a military vehicle arrived, and three soldiers got out of it. They walked up to me and told me I had to keep 200 meters away from the road, and that if I got close to the road again, they would arrest me. They also said that I refused to obey the orders the soldier I mentioned earlier gave me to go with him. I told them that I wanted someone from the Civil Administration and the police to come, because I was allowed to be there. The soldier said that I’d been warned several times that I wasn’t allowed to be there and that he was taking me to the military base, and asked me if I was coming with him. So, having no choice, I handed the bucket of water I was holding and my phone and wallet to one of the activists and I went with the soldiers to the military vehicle. They put me in it and took me to the military camp in Susiya.
Three soldiers came on foot from the gate and opened it. One of them looked at me, recognized me, and swore at me. Then, he and another soldier tied my hands behind my back with zip ties and tightened them tightly. Then he blindfolded me with a piece of cloth. They led me into the camp and forced me to sit on a chair outside. I told them I wanted to talk to an officer and that I couldn’t stay like that in the sun, and then one of the soldiers hit me very hard in the stomach, I didn’t see what he used because of the blindfold, but he might have kicked me. I was knocked off the chair and lost consciousness for a few moments. I woke up lying face down in the dirt, with my hands still tied behind my back. I felt worn out. I heard a car engine stop next to me, and someone said about me: “That one’s a motherfucking terrorist,” and then the car drove off.
I asked for a drink of water, but no one paid any attention to me or spoke to me. Ants crawled on my face and neck. I asked again to sit down and drink water, and then a soldier came and told me “drink.” I asked him how I was supposed to drink lying on the ground. He propped me up and pressed the bottle to my lips. While I was drinking, I heard another soldier telling him in Hebrew not to give me water and to leave me to die. When the soldier left me, I fell to the ground again.
They left me like that on the ground for another half hour or so, and then one of the soldiers ordered me to get up. He pulled me hard, but I couldn’t stand, or even sit on the chair. I was very worn out and weak. I’d already been there for about two hours, in the scorching sun, with my hands tied. The soldiers got me up and sat me on the chair. Then, one of them took off my blindfold and gave me water again, and after I drank it, they put me in the car. They drove me to the entrance of the village, where they took me out and left me lying on the ground. My neighbors and the Israeli activists arrived, but I was too weak to stand up, and I stayed lying on the ground until an ambulance came 40 minutes later and took me to the Yatta governmental hospital. The doctors gave me painkillers and kept me for observation for about two hours and then discharged me.
