Qawawis, South Hebron Hills: Soldiers, some known to local Palestinians as settlers, assault shepherds and detain them for hours
On Sunday, 17 March 2024, around 2:30 P.M., Jibril (Jibrin) Nu’man (59) from Qawawis was grazing his flock on his private land, about 50 meters from his house, when a soldier he knows as a settler arrived and ordered him to get out. Nu’man refused and the two began arguing over the land’s ownership. A few minutes later, more soldiers and settlers arrived, handcuffed Nu’man and another shepherd who was in the area, Taleb Nu’man (50), and drove the two men in a military jeep to a nearby military camp. There, two were held for about five hours in a room, where they were forced to sit on the floor. They were not given any food when the time came to break the Ramadan fast for the day. Soldiers took them back to the outskirts of the village at 7:00 P.M.
That weekend, on Saturday, 23 March 2024, at 8:00 A.M., Jibril Nu’man was grazing his flock on the same land, escorted by three Israeli activists, when a settler arrived on foot. He stopped about 30 meters away from the group, shouted at them from a distance and left. Then a private car pulled up by the road and two masked soldiers got out. One of them went over to Nu’man, threatened him at gunpoint and ordered him to hand over his ID card. Again, an argument ensured over ownership of the land and Nu’man’s right to graze his flock there. The soldier claimed Nu’man had to stay more than 20 meters away from the road, even though the distance between the land and the road is much greater. The two soldiers pushed him and separated him from the activists, and three other soldiers who arrived tied his hands in front and blindfolded him. The soldiers forced him to sit on the ground, and one of them kicked his legs and swore at him. They called the police, but the officers who came left when they found no cause to arrest Nu’man. The soldiers then took Nu’man in a military jeep to a nearby camp, beating him and swearing at him on the way. At the camp, the soldiers made Nu’man sit on a chair, handcuffed and blindfolded, until 2:30 P.M., without giving him water or food and without letting him pray. After that, they drove him to the entrance to the village of She’b al-Batem rather than to his own village of Qawawis.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Basel al-Adrah on 23 March 2024, Jibril Nu’man recounted his detention by soldiers, some of whom he recognized as settlers:
I have about 20 head of sheep, and a grove with an olive and almond grovetrees.
On Sunday, 17 March 2024, at 2:30 P.M., I was grazing my sheep on my private land, which is about 50 meters from my house. While I was there, a settler in military uniform arrived and told me to hand over my ID card. When I said it was at home, he told me to leave. and I refused and told himsaid: “This is my private land. I have documents showing I own it. , Wwhere am I going to go?!?” He told said to me: “Go to Jordan or Saudi Arabia.” Then he told mesaid: “Call your friend.” He was talking about Taleb Nu’man, 50, who was grazing his sheep 100 meters away from me. When I refused, he threatened to shoot me, so I called Taleb and then another soldier arrived.
They took Taleb and me to the side of the road. One of the soldiers told me to take off my jacket and put my hands up and then he ordered me to stand on a rock, and they searched me and handcuffed my hands behind my back. Then, two jeeps arrived, one military and the other civilian with , which also had soldiers inside it. I knew one I recognized one of the soldiers as a settler I know. They took Taleb and me to the side of the road, and one of the soldiers told me to take off my jacket and put my hands up. He ordered me to sit by a rock, and they searched me and Taleb. A few minutes later, they tied our hands behind our backs. They blindfolded and handcuffed Taleb too, put us both in a jeep and took us to a military camp. I didn’t really see where they took us, but it wasn’t far, because the jeep only drove a few minutes. There, the soldiers took us into a room, forcibly violently sat made us down sit on the floor and left us there.
After about an hour, someone came and said he was a police officer. He didn’t take our blindfolds off. He asked us: “Why do you keep going to the land? Don’t you understand the soldiers’ instructions? To stay away from the road?” We told him we’d been on our land, far away from the road. After a He left a few seconds laterhe left the room. We were still , leaving us there blindfolded with our hands tied behind our backs. We stayed like that until sunset prayer stime, a little before 6:00 P.M., when it was time to break the fast, but they didn’t give us water or food. Around 7:00 P.M., they put us in a car and took us to a road across from our village.
They just held us kept us in arbitrary detention for five hours for no reason, without any justification, just to torture us and stop us from taking our sheep out to our land. They don’t call the Civil Administration or show me any document that legally prohibits me from being on my land. These soldiers are settlers I know, and I recognized them even though they were masked. I’m being kicked off my own land and arrested to make me so I’ll leave.
He also described being detained by soldiers on 23 March 2024:
At 6:30 A.M., I went out to graze my sheep on my private land, in the same place. About an hour later, three Israeli activists joined me. Around 8:00 A.M., a settler arrived and stood about 30 meters away from us. He spoke called out and shouted, but I didn’t understand what he saidwas saying. , and Tthen he left.
After that, a car arrived drove up and pulled over. , and Ttwo masked soldiers came out of it got out and came towards over to us. One of them soldiers came up to me, pointed a gun at me and demanded my ID card. I told him it the ID was at home and then he claimed I’ had gone close to the road. I told him I was far from the road and on my land, and that t. A few minutes later, police officers arrived and told me I should stay about 20 meters away from the road. The police have had come here several times before and told me every time that I have to keep 20 meters away from the road, and that I can graze my sheep here. The soldier answered: “I know you. You make cause a lot of trouble.” I told himsaid: “What trouble?” At that point, three other soldiers arrived and spoke with the first soldiers a few meters away from me. One of the soldiers, who was standing close to me, noticed the scythe I was holding in order to harvest the crops. He asked me: “What’s that knife?” The activists and I tried to explain to him, and to the other soldiers who came closer to us, that it wasn’t a knife. They asked for my ID card again and then the soldier And then he told me: “You’re under arrest!” I told himsaid: “Talk to the Civil Administration and the police, why do you want to arrest me?” He said: “Go! Go , come on!” I asked him to let me bring take the flock home, but he refused. He said: “Go. Go on!” Then the two of them took me away from the activists with the cameras.
Three more soldiers came, tied my hands in front and blindfolded me. They forced me to sit on the ground, and one of the soldiers kicked my legs and said: told me “Be quiet, son of a bitch.” After a few minutes, the soldier removed took the piece of cloth from off my eyes and then I saw a police car coming. The police officer asked one of the soldiers: , “What did he do?” The soldier answered: “He was on land that doesn’t belong to him.” The police officer told the soldier: “Call the Civil Administration.” The soldier said: “They came.” I intervened turned to and told the officer and said: “This is my land, and I have a court ruling that says this it’s is my private land. Everyone knows that.” The soldier told me: “Be quiet, you son of a bitch.” Then the soldier told the police officer: “We’ll take him.” The officers left.
The soldiers blindfolded me again with the piece of cloth and put me in a car. They covered my head with my jacket, put me in the middle seat and sat on either side of me. The car started driving. The two soldiers on my right and left elbowed me and called me “son of a whorebitch” the whole way. One of them told mesaid: “Are you Hamas? Are you Fatah? I’ll kill you.” They kept hitting me and dragging pulling me left and right. The car stopped after five minutes. They took me out of it and had made me sit on a chair outside. One of the soldiers started cursing God, my religion and me. I told himsaid:, “Why are you doing that?” and he answered: “Why do are you entering an area you you’re not allowed to enter?” I told him, said: “Who said it’s not allowed? How do you know? I’ve lived here for decades, and I’m always there with my flock, and everyone knows it. t, and I have documents that prove that I own the land.”
When I heard the call for noon prayers, I asked the soldier to let me pray. H, then he cursed God and told me to shut up, “Shut up.” Then he said to me: “Why do you bring these activist sons of bitches, feeding them so they film take pictures of the soldiers and the settlers? . You’re so happy that they’re here. You should know you’re here because of them. If you kick send them outaway, there will be no trouble.” I told him: “They’re the ones documenting and filming the settler attacks.”
They kept me there, with my hands tied , in handcuffs until 2:30 P.M. Then , the soldiers put me in the car,, took me to the entrance to She’b al-Batem and let me out. , They dropped me off there, removed the handcuffs and blindfold and let me go home.
