On Friday, 6 December 2024, seven settlers, armed with knives, clubs and sticks - one was also carrying a gun - arrived at the community of Khallet al-Louza, Baryiet Bani Na’im, at around 10:30 P.M. They invaded 51-year-old Diab Salim’s tent, where he lives with his wife and six children. The settlers shouted at the family members, handcuffed Salim, who had been sitting on the ground, and then walked in and around the tent for about 40 minutes, destroying property and terrorizing the family members, especially the children.
The settlers tried to steal the family’s sheep flock, but residents who gathered at the scene managed to return it to the pen. The settlers, meanwhile, tore up three of the family’s tents, destroyed the television set; punctured six water tanks; smashed solar panels, lights, and a sink; broke the washing machine; cut the gas cylinder’s hose and destroyed kitchenware. The family’s children spent the rest of the night at a neighbor’s home, fearing the settlers would return.
Two days later, on Sunday, 8 December 2024, at around 2:00 P.M., three settlers showed up at the community again with a flock of sheep. Then, an armed settler known to the residents as Natan arrived on an ATV. He drove the ATV back and forth in front of the tents. One of the settlers approached Salim and asked him why he had not left yet. Salim called the Israeli police, but the officers refused to come to the scene and suggested he file a complaint at the station. At this point, about 20 village residents arrived, and a few minutes later, four soldiers arrived on an ATV. Villagers know two of them as settlers. More settlers who also arrived flew a drone over the tent and used its loudspeaker to tell Salim and the other residents to go into the tent, move out of the area within 24 hours or present ownership papers for the land.
Diab Salim, 51, a father of six, spoke about the incidents in a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Basel al-Adrah on 9 December 2024:
On Friday, 6 December 2024, around 10:30 P.M., while my family and my sister’s family, who were visiting with us, were asleep in our tent, seven settlers burst into the tent with knives, clubs, and sticks. One of them was armed with a rifle. They spread out inside the tent, and one of them stepped on the little children, who were sleeping and got very frightened. I was also shocked. Who behaves like this? I didn’t expect this, even from settlers. They kept yelling at us to be quiet, and my children just froze in terror.
Two of the settlers came over to me. I was sitting on the ground. They grabbed me by the shoulders, and the armed settler pointed his gun at me. My wife started screaming in fear. The two settlers handcuffed me behind my back with zip ties, while the armed settler ordered us to be silent and forbade us from speaking. He threatened my family members that he would kill me if they screamed or tried to leave the tent. One of the settlers kicked the television set, which was placed on a wooden table, and knocked it to the floor. Then he cut the cables, shouting, “Quiet! quiet!”. My children were very scared by their savagery and clung to their mother and aunt. Then, the settler with the rifle said, “I’m crazy! I’ll butcher him!” The other settlers searched the tent and destroyed our belongings. I shouted at them, “What do you want from us?!” But they didn’t answer. One settler climbed on the tent and started slashing the tarps with his knife. Meanwhile, another settler went over to the stove, removed the gas cylinder, cut the pipe, and opened the cylinder, but it was empty. This settler and the settler with the rifle told me over and over again: “You must leave this place.” I told them: “This is my land, and I will not abandon it.” They repeated it several times, and one of them also said: “I don’t want to see you here.”
The settlers kept going in and out of the tent, and we didn’t know what they were doing outside, but we heard the sounds of things smashing and breaking. About 40 minutes later, I heard the door to the sheepfold open and the sheep bleating. After a few minutes, the settler with the rifle warned us to stay in the tent and left. We saw the settlers leading our sheep towards the outpost, and my wife ran after them, shouting at them and calling relatives and neighbors to come.
My children took off my handcuffs, and then I chased after the settlers. I was joined by several neighbors, some of whom heard the screams and some who my wife called. There were quite a few of us by that point, and the neighbors shined flashlights at the settlers, so they abandoned my sheep in a nearby field, 150 meters from our house, and walked towards the outpost. I led my sheep back to the fold.
That night, I moved my sheep to a relative’s barn, 200 meters from my tent. I also sent my children to spend the night with relatives because I was afraid the settlers would come back.
On Sunday, 8 December 2024, around 2:00 P.M., three settlers came with a flock of about 200 sheep and asked about my sheep, which I had moved, as mentioned. I was sure the settler was planning to put his flock in my pen, mix his sheep with mine, and then claim them all as his. Meanwhile, one of the settlers went over to the tent, but I stopped him from entering. I told him: “There are women and children inside. What do you want?” He stepped away. As that was happening, another settler named Natan, who we know well, arrived on an ATV and started driving back and forth in front of the tent. One of the settlers who came with the sheep and had a gun came up to me and said: “I told you to leave this place. Why didn’t you do it?” I didn’t answer him. I called the Israel Police to tell them to come and told them what was happening, but they told me, “Go file a complaint.”
Meanwhile, several neighbors came to our tent and so did a Bani Na’im Municipality vehicle. A four-wheel drive vehicle also arrived, with four men in military uniforms in it, two of whom were settlers that I know well. I have seen them many times in both civilian clothes and military uniforms. The settlers also flew a drone over us, and a settler spoke to us from it, saying: “Everyone get inside the tent. No one is allowed to be outside.” One of the settlers in military uniform demanded the residents and municipality representatives leave, and the soldiers forced us into the tent. There were almost 30 of us. One of the soldiers told me: “Natan has a Jordanian tabu [ownership registration]. If you have a tabu for this land - it’s yours. If you don’t have a tabu, you have to leave within 24 hours.” After that, they all left.
We’re still shaken up by what happened here, and the settlers still show up from time to time and roam around here.