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fhirbet ‘Atuf, Jordan Valley: Settlers graze cattle in community resident’s barley fields

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fhirbet ‘Atuf, Jordan Valley: Settlers graze cattle in community resident’s barley fields

Between 23 June 2024 and 3 July 2024, settlers repeatedly grazed a herd of cattle in wheat and grain fields in lands spanning about 30 dunams (1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters) belonging to Kheirallah ‘Odeh (57) and located south of Kh. ‘Atuf. The animals consumed some of the crops.

A settler with a herd of cattle in Kheirallah ‘Odeh’s fields Photo courtesy of ‘Odeh

Kheirallah ‘Odeh said in a testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh on 5 July 2024:

We’ve been suffering from settler attacks and harassment for a long time now, but over the course of ten days in late June and early July this year, settlers brought a herd of cattle into my fields that ate the crops. Sometimes, I’d see a herder on my land too, or I’d see them lead the cattle to my land, and sometimes I just found the cattle on their own in the land. Activists called the police several times and we reported the damage the cattle was causing us to the police, but the settlers would claim the animals ran away and went to the land on their own.

I have more than 30 dunams of wheat and grain fields there. Because of the presence of the settlers, I’m now scared to bring my sheep to graze there. They don’t want any Palestinians to stay here. The settlers’ cattle destroy our crops, and the goal is to take over our land.

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.