Masa’ed being evacuated by ambulance after the attack. Photo courtesy of Masa’ed
On Wednesday, 30 April 2025, at around 11:00 A.M., two settlers riding an ATV arrived in the area of Khirbet Yarza and attacked Feisal Masa’ed, a community resident, as he was grazing his cattle and sheep on privately-owned land about 300 meters from his home. The settlers, who were armed with wooden clubs, got off the ATV, approached Masa’ed, who was on horseback, ordered him to leave, and hit him with the clubs on his legs, arms, and any other accessible part of his body.
Masa’ed called his son and other residents and backed away a little. He dismounted his horse, which is old and unable to run, and began to flee on foot. After a few minutes, local Palestinian residents arrived, and the settlers returned to the ATV and fled toward the outpost of Havat Ma’aleh Tayasir, established in February 2025 near Tayasir Checkpoint. Masa’ed was evacuated by ambulance to Tubas Hospital, where he was treated for bruises and discharged about two hours later.
Masa’ed’s horse near his home. Photo: ‘Aref Daraghmeh, B’Tselem
Feisal Masa’ed (Daraghmeh), 58, a father of five and resident of Khirbet Yarza, said in a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh on 30 April 2025:
The settlers fleeing on the ATV. Photo courtesy of Masa’ed
I have lived in Khirbet Yarza for years and make a living from raising sheep and cattle. Life here has always been hard, but what has been happening since the war began is far worse than anything we have faced before. The settlers and their outposts are a real, daily danger to our lives. There is no place they do not reach, including inside our homes and tents. Back in November 2023, settlers broke into our community and stole about 50 cows. After a lot of hard work, we managed to get only 20 back, and all our attempts to get the rest back failed. Since then, the situation has only gotten worse.
Today, the settlers attacked me with great violence, and I think they wanted to steal the livestock, but thanks to the residents who came to help, the settlers fled, and it ended with just bruises. I don’t know what will happen next time. The settlers also bring their livestock to graze in our cultivated fields and destroy the crops, but if any of us dares to complain, the military arrests them. I think they are constantly planning how to push us out of here, step by step. They want to take all our land for themselves, and the military lets them do whatever they want.
I just want to live in peace like I did before these settlers came, but no one will hear us. We live in fear, without justice or protection. We have no one to turn to, no one to complain to. Only to God.
Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation is inextricably bound up in human rights violations. B’Tselem strives to end this regime, as that is the only way forward to a future in which human rights, democracy, liberty and equality are ensured to all people, both Palestinian and Israeli, living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
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.
B’Tselem calls on the Israeli public and the international community to use every tool available under international law to bring an immediate end to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.
