Key points: CCTV footage published by Haaretz reportedly shows nine masked men attacking a Palestinian family's pen near Samu, smashing cars and setting crops on fire before three entered the pen and beat lambs with concrete blocks. According to reports, six lambs were killed and four severely injured; the attackers also damaged the family's home and fired tear gas inside. Human-rights groups say attacks on animals and farms have increased across the West Bank, and UNRWA described October as the most violent month in roughly 13 years. Israeli authorities have located at least one vehicle linked to the incident and say investigations are ongoing.
CCTV Shows Masked Settlers Allegedly Torturing and Killing Lambs Near Samu as Violence in West Bank Rises
Key points: CCTV footage published by Haaretz reportedly shows nine masked men attacking a Palestinian family's pen near Samu, smashing cars and setting crops on fire before three entered the pen and beat lambs with concrete blocks. According to reports, six lambs were killed and four severely injured; the attackers also damaged the family's home and fired tear gas inside. Human-rights groups say attacks on animals and farms have increased across the West Bank, and UNRWA described October as the most violent month in roughly 13 years. Israeli authorities have located at least one vehicle linked to the incident and say investigations are ongoing.
01:09, 05.11.2025Conflict
Footage allegedly shows settlers attack Palestinian farm animals and property
CCTV footage obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz appears to show a group of nine masked men assaulting a Palestinian family's livestock pen on the outskirts of Samu village in the southern West Bank. According to reports, the men were armed with clubs, smashed car windscreens and set nearby harvests on fire before three entered the pen and beat lambs to death in front of their mothers.
Haaretz and local sources say the lambs were thrown to the ground and struck with concrete blocks; the newspaper reports six were killed and four others suffered severe injuries. The attackers are also reported to have smashed the windows of the family's home and pepper-sprayed its interior.
Mahmoud Daghmeen, a Palestinian farmer, told Al Jazeera: "A number of settlers arrived here, I was praying. They are from Susiya settlement. They started hitting and breaking the car and hitting the door of the house, so I closed the door on myself. My wife and four children were there. They fired tear gas toward the house and two tear gas canisters were fired inside the house."
Human-rights activists told reporters this was not the first time the Dramin family had been targeted, but they described this as the most violent recorded incident against the household. Ben Zion Eshel and Amir Pinsky of the group Looking the Occupation in the Eyes warned that attacks on animals and farms have risen across the West Bank, citing stoning and beating of dogs, vehicles deliberately striking livestock, drones used to frighten animals, and poisoned bait left to kill dogs and wildlife.
Israeli authorities said officers from the IDF, Border Police and Shin Bet located one of the vehicles believed to have been used in the incident. A police spokesman said "extensive actions and investigations are under way to locate [the suspects], including exhausting all testimonies and evidence on the scene."
The incident comes amid wider reports of escalating violence in the West Bank. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said October was the most violent month in roughly 13 years, with many attacks occurring during the olive-harvest season and Palestinian farmers sometimes blocked from reaching their land.
Separately, right-wing Israeli MPs recently passed a bill to extend Israeli sovereignty over all West Bank settlements — a measure that drew criticism from some Israeli officials and international observers. US senator J.D. Vance, who was in Israel during the parliamentary vote, called the motion "stupid" and reiterated that Washington's official policy opposes formal Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
Ongoing investigation
Local and international human-rights groups are urging a thorough, transparent investigation into the alleged attacks on the Dramin family and other reported incidents targeting animals and civilians. As of this writing, authorities say investigations are ongoing and no arrests have been publicly confirmed.
Sources: Haaretz, Al Jazeera, UNRWA, Reuters.