17- 23 January
Settlers with cows have been continuously terrorizing Palestinians in Hammamat at Maleh, Hammamat Al Miteh, and Hammamat Al Burj for a week.
On the morning of Saturday the 17th at 8.30am a herd of cows belonging to a settler called Asael Kurnitz from the ‘Eresh Shametz Farm’ outpost and three settlers in an ATV, one armed, headed towards the families’ homes and the local school in Hammamat Al Maleh.
This incursion lasted for 6 hours in total with the cows ending up 50 metres from one of the houses and even closer to the home of an elderly couple who live next door and to the school.
The cows are often used by settlers to both trespass on Palestinian land, terrorize the families and damage Palestinian crops and property.
The settlers also drove by in an ATV continuously — and at one point drove down right next to the house and stopped outside. Eventually the settlers left and so did the cows.
The cows appeared again the next morning, on Sunday the 18th, and continued to graze on the family’s land throughout the day; getting closer and closer to the school and the homes while the settler returned with his ATV. Three armed settlers were also spotted down the road.
On Monday January 19th this escalated and two settlers grazed their cows on another Palestinian family’s home and property down in the neighbouring Hammamat Al Miteh.
They walked around menacingly touching the family’s buildings and farming equipment, looking in all the tents, at the baby lambs and goats, counting the animals and testing the security of fences enclosing them.
Two other settlers turned up in at ATV, one armed, and joined them for a picnic. When they left they stole wood from the Palestinians.
The remaining two settlers headed down into the valley and up towards another Palestinian’s home. Three settlers sat near the home for a while, then one of them headed into the property whilst the other two drove off. He harassed the family by touching their things and taking videos of the wife, young kids, and a lamb inside the tent. He then sat down on a chair right by the entrance to their house. His two friends joined him and began harassing the family – touching and breaking things, pacing around and flicking ash and spitting in the face of the father. They were laughing and sneering and tried to film his face saying things like “who are you?”. He had his head down looking at his feet and they kept shoving the the camera underneath his face.
By 3.30pm there were settlers driving around in an ATV at the house we had just been at, settler shepherds heading to another home and ATVs zooming around the area. The cows were also still grazing in the area.
Palestinians are facing more and more restrictions on where they can graze their livestock — most unable to venture far from their homes — meanwhile Israeli settlers can roam wherever they please.
The same settlers ended up assaulting Palestinians at two other locations in the area whilst the soldiers watched. Three Palestinians were detained by the army and then later released.
Since the attack the settlers have continued to bring their cows to the families’ homes in the area to threaten and harass them and now families are terrified, especially to go out shepherding.