Sha'ab al Butum: continuous abuse by the settler Amichai Shiro and his friends

Meitar Checkpoint still mostly deserted since October 7, 2023. Very few cars parked, belonging to the few who are permitted to cross to their workplace from here. Trucks cross with goods.

Behind the checkpoint we saw an area filled with dozens of showers and toilet stalls. Probably on the way to army posts and bases in the area.

We crossed Road 317 on our way to the Palestinian community of Sh’ab Al Botom. We drove on a dirt track with packages of food. We went there to visit families, especially that of Laila and Mohammad, the ones closest and most exposed to the nearby colonist outposts.

The family’s area is filled with reminders of the colonists’ attacks: water tanks and sola r panels all vandalized, a burnt car! They also vandalized the electricity and the fence that was mended time and again - the colonists simply take it apart and steal.

When the Palestinians exit with their flock of sheep to the area immediately adjacent to their home, a colonist arrives with his ATV, intimidates and chases them away. The colonists keep coming from a different direction each time, curse and threaten.

In November they stole a greenhouse, lately it has been seen situated in the colonist outpost.

The family’s car was burnt, the donkey which now serves as their sole means of travel to shop in town and in general - has been stolen three times! Lately the family has to borrow their neighbor’s donkey…

The main harasser among the colonists is Amichai Shiru, who keeps ‘visiting’ a different village in the area each time, wearing his army garb and armed, threatening and intimidating them.

International organizations donate necessary equipment such as water tanks, solar panels etc., again and again. Lately cameras have been placed to document the colonists when they do their stuff. Since then, the colonists come around less to the family home, but are still harassing at every opportunity, coming close and threatening.

Occasionally the Palestinians lodge a complaint at the Kiryat Arba police station, but this does not help and nothing is done against the assailants.

This is the non-life of life under occupation in the South Hebron Hills.