Soldiers attack shepherds in alTuwani; one arrested

Israeli soldiers attacked and injured Palestinian shepherds alTuwani this morning, as they grazed their sheep in near the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. Before leaving the area, the soldiers nabbed Musab Raba'i, one of the shepherds. 12 hours later, he was released after being beaten up and abused by the soldiers.

At around 10:30 a.m., Palestinian shepherds were grazing their sheep on Palestinian land, for which they have legally-recognized deeds of ownership, when they saw Israeli settlers observing them from the outpost of Havat Ma’on Jewish-only settlement. A short time later, an Israeli army jeep came to the area. After stopping to speak with one of the settlers, three Israeli soldiers approached the shepherds and ordered them to leave the area. The shepherds explained that it was their land, but agreed to move further down into the valley. The soldiers followed them and grabbed at one of the shepherds, so they all tried to leave the area quickly with their sheep. A second army jeep came to the area, and a further three soldiers joined in the attack. Soldiers hit the shepherds with their rifle butts, pushed them, and kicked them while other soldiers held them to the ground.

Some of the village's the women, who arrived in the area at this point tried to intervene, hoping to de-escalate the situation. However, the soldiers also forcefully pushed the women to the ground. A soldier then grabbed a video camera from an international activist who was filming, and broke it.

Other villagers came to the area and tried to calm the situation by talking with the soldiers, were greeted with concussion grenades and tear-gas thrown directly into the small group of women and children gathered nearby on the hillside.

Israeli police only reported to the scene at around 11:15am as the soldiers were leaving the area, with Musab Raba'i in custody. Throughout the day, both the army and police has denied all knowledge of Raba'i's whereabouts, or even of his detention. On his release, 12 hours after his detention, Raba'i revealed that he was kept at the army base beside the Susiya settlement, where the soldiers beat him severely and humiliated him. From there he was taken to the Kiryat Arba police station. The police held him for half hour and then threw him--while he was still blindfolded and handcuffed--from a jeep near the city of Yatta.

One elderly woman and a pregnant young woman, had to be taken to hospital, suffering from the effects of tear gas inhalation. Three of the shepherds were hospitalized for their injuries, and a young boy suffered a broken tooth.