Israeli settlers slaughter dozens of sheep in attack on Palestinian Bedouins
At dawn on Friday, groups of Israeli settlers slaughtered dozens of sheep and beat and stole several others in al-Miteh in the Jordan Valley, in the occupied West Bank.
The attack forced two Palestinian families to evacuate their homes and relocate to al-Auja, near the city of Jericho.
This incident is part of a growing pattern of settler violence targeting Bedouin communities, aimed at driving them from lands coveted by Israeli settlers. The settlers frequently attack livestock as a way to destroy the livelihood of Palestinian families and facilitate the seizure of their lands.
Mahmoud Kaabneh, one of the residents forced to flee, told Middle East Eye that on Thursday evening, settlers attacked the home of his brother Salem and attempted to steal donkeys. When the family intervened to stop them, more settlers arrived and began assaulting the homes of Salem and his cousin Suleiman, along with their families.
The settlers then opened the sheep pen and stole around 350 sheep. Residents quickly gathered to try to recover the livestock.
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"The Israeli army was present with the settlers and did nothing," Kaabneh said. "But when the residents tried to rescue the livestock, the soldiers attacked the Palestinians instead and chased us down. They arrested 20 men and beat them severely for four hours."
'We were left with nothing'
In the early morning hours, residents continued searching for their sheep and discovered that settlers had slaughtered dozens of them.
"More than 100 sheep were killed - some slaughtered with knives, others beaten to death, and many left with deep wounds. Some of them were stolen," Kaabneh said.
He added that a man from the area was hit on the head with an iron pipe while trying to fend off the settlers. When an ambulance arrived, Israeli soldiers detained him for hours at the Hamra checkpoint near Tubas, preventing him from being transported to hospital.
Kaabneh and his brothers, who live nearby, were forced to leave their homes and leave the area after the attack - the fifth time they've been displaced due to settler violence.
"We've been displaced since 13 October 2023,” he said. "Each time we're attacked, our children and women are beaten, our sheep stolen. Once, they took everything we owned - our homes, belongings - and we were left with nothing but the clothes on our backs."
According to local residents, settler attacks are a near-daily occurrence in the area, but this latest assault was among the most violent, spreading fear among Bedouin families.
Aref Daraghmeh, a local anti-settlement activist, said at least 30 Bedouin families have been forced to leave the Jordan Valley due to increased settler violence since the start of the war on Gaza, including 20 families in the past three months alone.
Recently, settlers have begun a tactic known locally as flag-based settlement, in which they plant an Israeli flag near the tents of Palestinian residents. If the flag is disturbed or even blown over by the wind, settlers use it as a pretext to attack Palestinians.
This tactic has terrified residents, Daraghmeh told MEE, adding that settlers have also been using tractors to ram into homes and animal shelters.
"There is no one to protect the Palestinians here," Daraghmeh said. "The Israeli army is supporting the settlers in their attempt to completely evacuate the Jordan Valley of its residents."
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