Menu
From the field
Topics

“My father was bleeding. When the settlers saw that, they went away, as though they’d accomplished their mission”

✕

“My father was bleeding. When the settlers saw that, they went away, as though they’d accomplished their mission”

Nizar al-Jawad Khalil
Nizar al-Jawad Khalil

‘Abd al-Jawad Khalil, 66, began the day in his olive grove and ended it in hospital.

It was Saturday, 25 January 2020. Khalil went with his son, Nizar, to trim some trees and gather firewood. It was midday, the time flew by and the woodpile grew. Father and son were about to load it into the trunk of their vehicle when they noticed, on a nearby hilltop, some 20 settlers heading towards them, throwing stones, shouting and swearing. They were carrying firearms and iron rods.

Nizar was terrified: his elderly father couldn’t run, and the closest village houses were at least 650 yards away. He shouted, hoping to deter the assailants and perhaps raise help from the village. The settlers continued to draw near. Nizar stood in front of his father and tried to drive the settlers away with stones. He was afraid they wouldn’t make it out alive. Just then, a stone hit ‘Abd al-Jawad in the head and he passed out, lying bleeding on the ground. “When the settlers saw that, they went away”, Nizar recounted, “as though they’d accomplished their mission.”

The local clinic where Nizar took his father called an ambulance. At Rafidya Hospital in Nablus, ‘Abd al-Jawad was bandaged and held overnight for observation. 

‘Abd al-Jawad Khalil

a-Sawiyah, 25 January 2020 – settlers attack olive grove owners with stones.

Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation is inextricably bound up in human rights violations. B’Tselem strives to end this regime, as that is the only way forward to a future in which human rights, democracy, liberty and equality are ensured to all people, both Palestinian and Israeli, living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, Israel has acted in a coordinated and deliberate manner to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip, committing genocide against its residents. In light of Israel’s actions in Gaza, the public statements made by Israeli decision-makers, and the international community’s failure to take effective action, there is a serious risk that the Israeli regime will expand the genocide to other areas under its control—first and foremost, the West Bank.
B’Tselem calls on the Israeli public and the international community to use every tool available under international law to bring an immediate end to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.