The graffiti sprayed by settlers on the water tanker. Photo: Mohammad Romaneh, B’Tselem
On Tuesday, 5 November 2024, at around 3:00 A.M., settlers entered a-Ras, a community of individuals displaced from Ras a-Tin and al-Qabun. The settlers torched a car, graffitied “Revenge for the injured in Burqah” and a Star of David on a water tanker. Residents of the community called the Palestinian DCO, and around 7:00 PM, soldiers arrived and collected statements from the residents.
Mustafa Ka’abneh, 50, said in a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Mohammad Romaneh on 6 November 2024:
Mustafa Ka’abneh’s car, torched by the settlers. Photo: Mohammad Romaneh, B’Tselem
On Tuesday, 5 November 2024, around 3:00 A.M., while I was asleep in my tent in the community, I heard my nephew, Sa’id Khalil, 25, yell, “There’s a car on fire!” I got up, went outside, and discovered it was my car. Ten or 15 of us gathered right away, and within five minutes, we managed to put out the fire. It was only after we put out the fire that we noticed the Hebrew graffiti, “Revenge for those injured in Burqah” and a Star of David, on a water trailer that was parked 15 meters from the car, and then we realized that settlers had started the fire.
I called the Palestinian DCO, and they said they would notify the Israeli DCO, so they could come and investigate the incident. Around 7:00 P.M., four military vehicles arrived, and 10 soldiers and two people in civilian clothes got out. They collected our statements about the incident and took photos of the damage. My nephew, ‘Omar Ka’abneh, 36, asked the DCO officer: “What are we supposed to do if the settlers come back to our tents and attack us?”, and the officer shrugged and told him: “It is what it is.” They left after about an hour.
I lost my car, which cost tens of thousands of shekels. The engine, cables, and front tires were burned, and the body was also damaged. But that’s nothing compared to the panic and fear that has taken over us, especially our children. We couldn’t sleep at night, fearing the settlers would attack again.
The community of a-Ras, whose residents belong to the al-Ka’abneh tribe is located in an elevated spot in a mountainous area east of the village of Khirbet Abu Falah, Ramallah District, designated as Area B under the Oslo Accords. The residents purchased the land from residents of Khirbet Abu Falah in 2019, and some moved there after being forced out of the communities of Ras a-Tin and al-Qabun due to settler violence and soldier harassment. The community subsists on animal husbandry, mainly sheep and chickens. It is home to about 40 families, with a total number of about 300 people, including about 100 minors, 75 of whom are school students.
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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.
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