On 7 December 2024, at around 3:00 P.M., while Isma’il ‘Awad (21) was grazing his sheep about 120 meters from his home in the community of Kh. a-Safai al-Foqa in the South Hebron Hills, a soldier known to local Palestinian residents as a settler came from the direction of Havat Ma’on. The soldier pulled up next to ‘Awad and demanded to see his ID card. After Isma’il showed him a digital image of the ID on his phone, the soldier ordered him to sit on the ground. Meanwhile, Isma’il’s brother Yusef (31) also arrived at the scene, and other residents gathered and watched the events from a distance. The soldier demanded to see Yusef’s ID card as well and ordered him to sit on the ground.
The soldier asked the two if they had heard gunfire in the area, and they replied they had not. A few minutes later, six settlers, three of them armed, arrived in a jeep and an ATV. The settlers separated the brothers and had them sit about ten meters apart. One of the settlers ordered the two to take off their clothes and then searched them. He hit Yusef on the neck and the arm with a rifle, stole his wallet, and then ordered the two to sit with their heads down. The settler then put his gun to Yusef’s head and asked him about the shooting. When Yusef replied that he did not know, the settler hit him again with the rifle and threatened him.
After about half an hour, two vehicles with soldiers arrived at the scene, one carrying three soldiers from the direction of the military camp in Jenbah, and the other, carrying four soldiers, one of whom was known to the residents as a settler, from the direction of Havat Ma’on. The soldier known to the residents as a settler also conducted a body search on the two brothers and questioned them about the shooting again.
He took off Yusef’s shirt, tied it over his face, and then tied his hands behind his back with rope. He then ordered Isma’il to open his phone, and when he refused, he forced him to lie on the ground and hit him several times with the barrel of his rifle until he complied and opened the phone. The soldier and the settlers looked through the phone for several minutes, then the soldier returned to Isma’il, dragged him, ordered him to undress again, tied his shirt over his face and his hands with a rope behind his back, knocked him to the ground and stepped on his hands.
The soldiers then pulled the brothers up and threw them in the bed of one of the vehicles, then drove it for about 20 minutes, stopped, dragged the brothers and let them fall to the ground, cut the ropes that bound them, kicked them, and left, taking Yusef’s wallet, Isma’il’s phone, and both of their ID cards. The two brothers had to walk for about 30 minutes back to their home.
In testimonies they gave B’Tselem field researcher Basel al-Adrah, the brothers described what happened to them that day:
Yusef ‘Awad, a father of three, said:
One of the armed settlers had me stand next to the jeep, said: “hands up,” and started searching me. He asked me, “Where’s the gun?” and when I told him, “I don’t have a gun,” he hit me with his gun in the back of the head, ordered me to take off my pants, and hit me in the neck again, this time with his hand. Then he pulled up my shirt, under the pretext of searching me, and so I was left almost naked in front of most of the villagers, men, women, and children - including my own children. My brother and I were humiliated in front of everyone. Then the settler told me, “Put your pants on,” and asked me, “Which one of you fired?” I told him, “No one fired,” and then he hit me in the neck again and asked me, “Where’s your phone?” I told him, “I don’t have a phone.” I don’t use a phone.” He took my wallet, which had NIS 100 (~ USD 27), and my ID card, which I had shown to the settler/soldier at the beginning. Then he pulled me by the shoulder and told me, “Sit here, put your head to the ground, and don’t talk to anyone.” Then the settler searched my brother Isma’il in the same humiliating way, next to the jeep.
[...] After that, the settler came back over to me, cocked his gun, held it to my head and said to me: “Tell me who fired, or I’ll kill you.” I was terribly scared. I thought he was really going to shoot us. He held a loaded gun to my head, and I thought he might pull the trigger at any moment. I told him, “No one fired. Call the police.” Then he hit me on the head and told me, “Shut up!” After that, the settlers talked among themselves and occasionally asked me about the shooting or if I heard any gunfire. Then one of them told me, “If you stop taking the sheep out to these fields here, I’ll make sure they let you go now.”
The soldier I know as a settler spoke to the other settlers and then came up to me and asked me why I was shooting at them. I told him, “I didn’t shoot anyone, and no one shot anyone here, and there’s no problem. They came to make trouble for my brother who was grazing the sheep.” The soldier told me: “Don’t lie. You know who fired.” Then he dragged me, had me stand next to the military vehicle, and forced me to take off my pants, on the pretext that he was searching me, and told me to put my hands up. He took off my shirt and tied it over my face. Then he tied my hands behind my back with a rope they had in the car. I felt like the shirt he tightened around my face was suffocating me. I could barely breathe. He had me lie face down on the ground. When I asked him to take the shirt off my face or at least loosen it so I could breathe, he stepped on my hands and said: “I’m crazy! I can kill you!” Then he went over to my brother Isma’il.
Isma’il ‘Awad said in his testimony:
The soldier, who I know as a settler, came over to me and asked me where my phone was. I told him the phone was on me, and he ordered me to open it, but I refused. He had me lie down on the ground and ordered me again: “open the phone,” and again I refused, and then he hit me on the shoulder with the barrel of his rifle, while shouting at me to open the phone and hitting me. I was scared and opened the phone. He took it and walked over to the other settlers, and they looked through it for a few minutes. Then he walked back over to me, leaving my phone with one of the settlers. He pulled me by the shoulder and started to physically search me near the car, just like they had done to me before: He ordered me to take off my pants and then took off my shirt. Then, he ordered me to pull up my pants, and then he covered my face with my shirt and tied it tightly until I felt like I was suffocating. Then he tied my hands with a rope they brought and threw me on the ground, face down. After a few minutes, he came back and stepped on my hands forcefully. I screamed in pain, and he kept asking me about the gun and who fired, while I was just screaming in pain.
Then, two soldiers grabbed me and put me in the bed of the vehicle. They tied my legs to the cover and drove quickly down a dirt road. We were lying in the truck bed, half-naked. It was very cold, and because it was driving fast, dirt flew at us. We shouted at them to take off our handcuffs. We were very cold and felt like we were suffocating, but they ignored us. After 20 minutes, the vehicle stopped, one of the soldiers opened the back door, untied my legs, and dragged me until I fell to the ground. Then he kicked me down forcefully so that I lay face down on the ground. Then he cut the rope with a knife and told us: “Don’t move.” He kicked me hard in the side of the body while I lay there. After a few minutes, the vehicle left. We took our shirts off our faces. We didn’t see anyone around. They left us at an intersection close to the community of Hamidah. We didn’t have a phone to call to talk to any of our family members. The soldiers did take my wallet and ID card, and my brother’s phone and ID card and gave them to the settlers, who didn’t give them back to us. Then we put on our shirts and started walking towards home, about a half-hour walk away.