On 26 March, settlers from the Hill 833 outpost (called Havat Ma'on by the settlers) fired five shots into a Palestinian flock of sheep and goats late Wednesday morning, badly wounding a sheep and a large male goat. The shooting took place on Palestinian land in Khoruba valley near the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. A second sheep, whom shepherds believed was wounded, fled into the valley and could not be found.
Israeli police and Army personnel arrived shortly after noon and spoke with the owner of the sheep, a shepherd from the nearby village of Maghayir al Abeed. Two settlers, armed with automatic weapons, arrived at about 2:00 p.m. and spoke with the Israeli police and Army personnel. The settlers attempted to prevent CPTers from filming, threatened to take video cameras and tapes from them and have them arrested. The CPTers observed the settlers remove the written police report from the police vehicle and then return it after several minutes.
Several Palestinian shepherds from surrounding villages arrived at the scene and told Police that they heard five shots fired at about 11:00 that morning. They said they were unable to use their grazing land that day due to the violence. At roughly a 4:00 p.m., the Police left the scene, taking both injured animals with them.Palestinian shepherds in the area and CPTers report that settler violence directed at shepherds in the Tuwani Area has increased sharply in March. On multiple occasions, both settlers and military personnel have injured Palestinian-owned animals.
