On Tuesday, 20 December 2022, schools in the West Bank shut down for the day following the death of Palestinian prisoner Naser Abu Hamid in an Israeli prison. At around 9:30 A.M., a group of about 13 boys between the ages of 15 and 17 went for a walk in some woods near Khirbet Na’alan, an area about three kilometers north of the village of al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah. The boys were dropped off at the site by a minibus, which drove back to the village, and they set off on their walk. Most of the boys walked in a group, while Mahmoud Shreiteh (15) and two others trailed behind. At a certain point, a settler emerged from among the trees and pounced on Shreiteh, hitting him with a large rock and breaking his ankle. While Shreiteh’s friends tried to fend the settler off, about four more settlers emereged from among the trees, armed with clubs, a sword, a spear and a slingshot.
One of the boys managed to escape and the other tried to rescue Shreiteh, but the settlers beat him, too, and hit him on the head with a rock. The boy escaped, with his head bleeding, towards the village. On the way, he picked up the phone Shreiteh dropped and used it to call for help. Meanwhile, the settlers started dragging Shreiteh away, while boys from the group up ahead threw stones to try and make them let go.
After about 15 minutes, Sa’di Shreiteh (47), Mahmoud’s father, arrived. The settlers let go of his son for a moment and backed off. Shreiteh picked his son up to carry him away, but then the settlers returned and attacked both father and son with stones. In the meantime, the group that was up ahead arrived at the spot and tried to fend off the settlers by throwing stones. Sa’di Shreiteh managed to get his son to his car. On their way to hospital they also picked up Mahmoud’s friend with the head injury. Meanwhile, more village residents arrived at the woods, as well as soldiers. In clashes that broke out, some of the residents threw stones at the soldiers, who fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at them, hurled stun grenades and fired live rounds in the air. The clashes continued intermittently until 3:00 P.M. No one was seriously hurt, but several people inhaled tear gas and were treated on the spot.
The soldiers arrested four village residents, handcuffed them and took them to a military post in the settlement of Talmon, where they were held until the following afternoon. They were then taken to a military base near the village of Rantis, seen by a doctor and jailed in a cell until 7:00 P.M., at which point they were transferred to the Etzion detention facility. The following morning, the four detainees were taken to the Ofer military court and remanded in custody for eight days, until 30 December 2022. After their lawyer contested the length of the detention, remand was reduced to six days and they were released on 28 December 2022, after posting NIS 2,000 (USD 560) in bail each.
Mahmoud Shreiteh had surgery on his ankle on 4 January 2023 at al-Istishari Hospital. He remained in hospital until 7 January 2023 and now needs physiotherapy. His friend was treated and discharged on the day of the incident.
B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad collected testimonies from some of the residents attacked that day:
Mahmoud Shreiteh described what happened in his testimony
Ten of the guys went ahead, and I walked behind them with two friends. Suddenly, a settler we know from the area came out from among the trees and shouted something I didn’t understand in Hebrew. He hit me with a big rock that landed on my left ankle. I felt it break. I fell down and could barely crawl. I started calling out to my friends for help. The two friends who were with me tried to get the settler to back off and tried to pull me away. Then, four more settlers came out from among the trees, all holding clubs. One of them also had a sword, another a spear and a third had a slingshot. All the settlers started attacking us. One of my friends managed to run away, and the settlers attacked the other one with a club and threw a rock that hit him in the head. He started bleeding and also ran away. On the way he picked up my phone, which I’d dropped.
I was left lying there alone, while the settlers beat me and I shouted and asked them not to hit my injured leg. They kept hitting that leg on purpose, and I heard one of them talking on the phone. I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I heard the word “Shabak” (Israel Security Agency), which I know.
Then they started dragging me by the shoulders. My leg was twisted out of shape and was obviously broken. I moaned and cried with pain, but they didn’t listen to me. They took turns dragging me north of there, towards the Kerem Re’im outpost, which is a kilometer or two away from the woods.
The first settler who attacked me didn’t participate in the rest of the attack. He asked me if I was from Mazra’ah and what my last name was, and I told him.
About 15 minutes after the settlers jumped me, while my friends from the village were still trying to rescue me from the settlers, my father arrived in his car. He drove up to about 50 meters away from us and came over on foot because the road was bumpy. When the settlers saw him, they let go of me and ran away.
Mahmoud’s father, Sa’di Shreiteh (47), said in his testimony:
At 9:20 A.M., I got a call from my son Mahmoud’s phone. It was a friend of his. He said settlers were attacking them and trying to kidnap Mahmoud, and asked for help. I was terrified. I was afraid they’d kill my boy.
I got in my car right away and drove to the area of Khirbet Na’alan, where they were. I got there within 10 minutes and saw about five settlers in their twenties dragging my son. Only one had his face uncovered, and it was someone we know from the area who’s often attacked shepherds here. The other four were masked. They were holding Mahmoud by the hands and shoulders and dragging him over the ground and thorns towards the Kerem Re’im outpost, which is a kilometer or two away. They were bumping him against the rocks. It was like they were carrying a sack or something, with no compassion or humanity.
I drove up to about 50 meters away from them, and then it was impossible to go any further by car. I got out and ran towards Mahmoud and the settlers, shouting. The settlers let go of Mahmoud and ran away. When I reached Mahmoud, he was in a terrible state. He was full of scratches and bleeding from the forehead, and his clothes were filthy. He was moaning in pain and said: “Help, Dad, my leg, my leg’s broken, I can’t get up.” I checked his leg and the ankle was shattered. The skin was the only thing holding it together. The foot was dangling free. I picked Mahmoud up and started carrying him to the car, and then the settlers came back to attack me. They were holding clubs, and I saw that one of them had a sword, too. Another had a crossbow, and another had a spear and slingshots. They started attacking us with stones, none of which hit us, thank God. When they tried to get closer, I laid Mahmoud down and fended them off with stones. There were friends of Mahmoud’s there, too, and they tried to throw stones at the settlers to keep them way, but only from a distance because they were afraid to come close. When they saw me confronting the settlers, they worked up the courage to come closer and help me.
I left Mahmoud’s friends to fend off the settlers, picked Mahmoud up and carried him to the car. We drove away. On the way I saw a friend of his, who was wounded in the head. I picked him up and took both boys to al-Istishari hospital in Ramallah. The friend was treated and discharged the same day, and Mahmoud stayed in hospital. They set the bone in his left leg that day, and sewed up the wound on his forehead with four or five stitches. They also disinfected some scratches on his body, especially on his limbs, and treated them. Then he was admitted to the orthopedic ward. He’s scheduled for surgery on Wednesday, 4 January 2023. We don’t know if the injury will affect him in the future, and we’re worried it will affect his ability to walk. He will also have to miss a lot of school.
Iyad Hanun (52) from al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah was among the residents called to the scene of the attack. In his testimony, he said:
I arrived with four other people from the village, and we got there in time to see Sa’di Shreiteh taking away his son Mahmoud and a friend of his, who was injured. About 150 meters north of the Khirbet Na’alan park, we saw three settlers with slingshots and clubs chasing the boys from the village. The distance between the settlers and the boys was about 30-50 meters. When the boys saw us, they cheered up and joined us, and together we tried to drive off the settlers, who started to run away.
After a minute or so, a white Toyota jeep we know belongs to the outpost’s security guard drove up quickly from the direction of the outpost, along with a military jeep. The guard stopped for a moment next to me, opened the door, shouted at me to stop and threw a stun grenade in my direction. It exploded two meters away from me. The explosion was so strong it felt like the ground was shaking under my feet, and I fell down. I put my hands over my head because there was a loud ringing in my ears.
The guard passed me on foot, and the military jeep behind him blocked the boys and residents who were with me from going any further. The guard and the soldiers detained four 17-year-old boys. We started running away, and the soldiers and guard ordered us to stop. Some of the young guys did. I managed to get away, and together with a few other boys who managed to escape, I watched the soldiers as they made the guys sit on the ground and started handcuffing them right away. In the meantime, the settlers who had run away earlier came back and joined the soldiers.
More residents arrived and tried to get the soldiers to let the detainees go. They argued with the soldiers, who detained two of them and tied their hands behind their backs. While that was going on, more soldiers arrived in three or four military jeeps, as well as more settler vehicles. The residents shouted at the soldiers and the settlers, swore at them and threw stones at them. The soldiers fired tear gas canisters and “rubber” bullets, hurled stun grenades and fired live shots in the air. At that point, the settlers backed away towards the outpost of Kerem Re’im.
The clashes continued on and off until 3:00 P.M. No one was hurt except for several people who inhaled tear gas and were treated on the spot. In the end, the soldiers released two of the detainees, put the other four in a military jeep and left. The four were held at Ofer prison and on Thursday, 22 December, were remanded in custody for eight days. Their lawyer appealed the length of the detention and it was cut down to six days. They were released on 28 December, after posting NIS 2,000 (USD 560) in bail each.
