Hebron, West Bank. Palestinian shepherd Sameeha Rasheed said West Bank Jewish settlers stole around 45 sheep from her home in Masafer Yatta in a pre-dawn raid before Eid al-Adha.
Raid and losses
Rasheed said the sheep were taken from her family’s home near Hebron on May 21 after the settlers first stole the family’s guard dogs, leaving no one alerted as masked men broke in before dawn and herded the animals away. She said the theft left her family without the sheep planned for the Eid al-Adha sacrifice and without the income she would have received from selling the animals not used by her household.
Impact on the family
“This is our livelihood, my husband and I live from the income from these sheep. I don’t have anything to get treatment for my husband or spend on myself,” Rasheed told Reuters. She said her husband has cancer.
Wider context
Eid al-Adha is one of Islam’s two main festivals and marks the climax of the annual Haj pilgrimage, when Muslims slaughter animals to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim, or Abraham, to sacrifice his son on God’s command, often distributing meat to the poor.
Rasheed said settlers had been carrying out near-daily attacks on shepherds in the area, including spraying pepper gas toward homes and children.
Verified footage and official response
CCTV footage obtained and verified by Reuters showed masked men moving sheep out of the farm at night. Reuters verified the location as near Masafer Yatta by matching buildings, structures and terrain to archive and satellite imagery.
Settler violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has surged since the Gaza war began in October 2023. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has called it “Jewish terror” and a national disgrace.
Asked for comment on the sheep theft, the Israeli military said it had deployed troops to the area but did not see any settlers and had handed the case to Israeli police. A spokesperson for the Yesha Council, which represents municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.