Israeli settlers steal 900 sheep from Palestinians as 16-year-old killed defending them

Ali Kaabneh will never forget what Israel has done to him. Not only did they steal, Israeli soldiers killed his son.

“Israeli soldiers stole our sheep and killed my son,” said Ali Kaabneh, standing where his 16-year-old son Yousef was killed.

Yousef was shot in the village of Jiljilya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, when Israeli settlers and soldiers raided the area last Wednesday.

Around 900 sheep were forcibly taken from local Palestinians during the raid.

Although settlers often invade Palestinian communities and steal livestock, in this case the entire operation was coordinated with—and under the protection of—the Israeli military, which secured the theft and assisted the settlers throughout the operation.

“They chased our flock, stole them, looted and robbed us, and brutally killed my son,” Kaabneh told Middle East Eye.

“This is a terrorist government policy of killing and looting.”

The raid was launched after reports that 120 sheep had been stolen in the early hours of Wednesday from Tzur Levavi Farm—an illegal outpost managed by the Maguri family. Located in Jabal al-Batin in Area A, part of the occupied West Bank under Palestinian Authority control, the outpost sits on land belonging to the villages of Sinjil and al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya.

The following morning, dozens of settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, stormed the villages of Sinjil, Jiljilya, and Abwein, entering sheep pens and emptying them.

Israel National News (Arutz 7), a pro-settler media outlet, reported that the sheep seizure was possible through joint activities of security forces and Zionist civilian volunteers.

During the raid, Israeli soldiers set up roadblocks across the area to allow settlers to move freely.