On Sunday, 3 November 2024, at around 1:30 P.M., as Michelle Qasissiyeh (54) and her daughter Alice (29) were driving on the road leading to their family’s land in the al-Makhrour area of the Bethlehem District, three armed settlers blocked their path. One settler filmed as another tried to snatch the car keys through the driver’s side window. When he was unsuccessful, he turned to the passenger side, where Alice was sitting, accused her of stealing a black bag, and then forced his way into the car, knocked the phone out of her hand, placed his elbow on her neck, and tried to strangle her. The settler backed off only after she started crying and saying she couldn’t breathe.
Alice filmed the incident and posted it on Instagram, and within ten minutes, Michelle’s daughter-in-law and an international activist arrived. About ten minutes after that, soldiers turned up, apparently alerted by the settlers, arrested Alice and Michelle for presence in a closed military zone and took them to the Etzion Yehuda police station. The two women were kept waiting for more than an hour before being interrogated as suspects in an assault, theft and violation of an order. They were released around 7:00 P.M., with an order to keep away from the area for 15 days.
The mother and daughter went to an emergency clinic in West Jerusalem the next day and received treatment for their injuries. Alice Qassissiyeh filed a complaint about the settler attack at the Beitar Illit police station.