On 8 November 2024, at around 3:00 P.M., while three brothers from the al-Mahariq family were working their land in the al-’Alali area west of the town of a-Samu’, in Area B, a herd of cattle entered their plot. The brothers tried to drive the animals off their field, and within a few minutes, an ATV with three settlers, some carrying firearms, drove into the plot. The settlers shouted at the Palestinian farmers for driving away their herd. One settler fired in the air and at the ground, and the rest began pushing the farmers in an attempt to get them off the ground, but the farmers would not leave. About 15 minutes later, seven more settlers arrived and joined the efforts to drive away the brothers and four relatives who had come to their aid. The brothers retreated with their relatives towards their house, which lies about a hundred meters away.
At this point, soldiers arrived and went to the al-Mahariq family home. They detained the brothers and their relatives, kicked, blindfolded, and handcuffed them, and then led them to a military base in the settlement of Shim’a, where they were held for about an hour before being transferred to a base in the settlement of Otniel. Five family members were held until midnight and released. The two brothers were held overnight and taken at noon the next day to the police station in Kiryat Arba, where they were interrogated on suspicion of attacking settlers. They were ordered to sign an undertaking not to access their land for 15 days and released only at 5:00 P.M.