Three Palestinians were injured late Monday night after illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers invaded the town of al‑Samu’, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, attacking homes and livestock in one of several recent assaults targeting communities across Masafer Yatta.
Anti‑colonization activist Osama Makhamra stated that the colonizers, from the “Susiya” outpost — built illegally on privately owned Palestinian land in Masafer Yatta — advanced toward the Wadi Jheish area of as‑Samu’ and launched a coordinated attack on residential property.
Makhamra said the colonizers surrounded the home of local resident Mahmoud al‑Daghamin, pelting it with stones until the windows shattered and the interior was damaged, in addition to causing damage to his car.
Several members of the family were then assaulted as the attackers forced their way onto the property, injuring three who were transferred to Yatta Governmental Hospital for treatment.
The colonizers also invaded al‑Daghamin’s livestock enclosure, killing several sheep and stealing others before fleeing toward the Susiya outpost.
Residents of al‑Samu’ described the attack as part of a broader escalation of colonizer violence across the Hebron region, where Palestinian communities have faced repeated invasions, property destruction, and livestock killings aimed at forcing families from their land.
Local residents and activists warned that without immediate intervention, the frequency and severity of these attacks will continue to rise, placing entire communities at risk.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.
