Harassment of Shi'b al-Butum and Umm Darit communities by Israeli settlers & soldiers

Shiʿb al-Butm (AKA Sha'ab al-Butum) and Umm Darit are small Palestinian herding communities located in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank, within Area C under full Israeli control. They have been the subject of repeated reports of harassment and pressure linked to nearby Israeli settler outposts and settler activity in the surrounding hills. Documented incidents include intimidation of shepherds, attacks on residents, damage to property and livestock, and restrictions on access to grazing land, which is essential for their livelihoods. Human rights organizations describe a broader pattern of sustained pressure, especially in recent years, involving both settlers and the broader security environment, contributing to what they characterize as a coercive context that increases the risk of displacement. This situation has been widely reported by UN bodies and human rights groups as part of a wider trend of escalating settler violence and land pressure in the South Hebron Hills.

Umm Darit is located near the village of Shi‘b al-Butum, and its residents suffer from frequent harassment and severe violence by settlers, who mostly come from the outpost “Droma,” established by the settler Amichai Shilo just a few hundred meters from the homes.

The village is also the target of the Bejnamin

On February 2025, Amnesty International stated that "The Palestinian community of Shi’b Al-Butum in Masafer Yatta is at imminent risk of forcible transfer due to increasing state-backed settler attacks, as well as home demolitions, restrictions on access to land and illegal settlement expansion by the Israeli authorities, Amnesty International said today. This herding community, home to some 300 Palestinians, is one of the 12 communities that make up the area of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, and that for decades has been subjected to growing state-backed settler attacks and oppressive measures by the Israeli authorities. Since 7 October 2023 the situation has significantly worsened. Unless measures are immediately taken to hold violent settlers accountable, stop home demolitions and the expansion of nearby settlements, this community – like others in the area – will be forcibly displaced. The situation of the Shi’b Al-Butum community is a microcosm of what Palestinians, in particular herding and Bedouin communities, are facing across most of the occupied West Bank. Settlers trespass on their land, vandalize and steal their property, harass and physically assault them with total impunity.

Timeline of the events:

On February 2024, in the evening, settlers arrived at a family home in Umm Darit near Shaab al-Butum, attacked the family with stones, and attempted to run over shepherds and their sheep. Later, settlers in uniform arrived, and together they took the father and his son toward a nearby settlement on an ATV. Shortly afterward, dozens of armed settler-soldiers, including Bezalel Talia, entered Shaab al-Butum, moved through homes with weapons drawn, destroyed property, and reportedly detained another resident. The fate of the three taken residents remained unknown at the time.

On May 30, 2024, a new illegal settler outpost known as the Ma'ahaz Ha-Otobus” (מאחז האוטובוס), is expanding near Sh'ib al-Butum and Umm Darit, with the army's tacit protection. Settlers are building openly, while soldiers and Bodi (Benjamin Bodenheimer), the security coordinator (ravshatz) of Avigayil, observe without intervening. The outpost's expansion is part of ongoing efforts to intimidate and displace Palestinian residents through attacks, arson, land-access restrictions, and arrests.

On July 8 2025, israeli settlers release their livestock among fruitful trees owned by Palestinians in Khirbet in the Shaab al-Butm area of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

On July 24, 2025, group of settlers in the Sh'ib al-Butum area in Masafer, the town of Yatta, attacked citizens’ homes and threw stones at the windows of homes and solar panels, which led to the elderly citizen Sabiha al-Najjar - sustaining bruises, and she was subsequently transferred to the hospital for treatment.

On June 5, 2026, the Israeli army forces arrested two Palestinian brothers, Muhannad and Fadi Al-Jabarin, after Israeli settlers stormed their house, destroyed their property, and assaulted the family in the Shi'ab al-Butum area of Masafer Yatta.

On July 6, 2026, Israeli settlers left severe damage on a home after invading the village.

On Augustus 2, 2026, arounf 12:40, a delivery guy from al Fawar refugee camp, Adham Tawfiq al-Wawi, was attacked by settlers while driving near the village of Sh'ib al Buttum, in the Wadi area of Ma'in village in Masafer Yatta. He was driving on the main road when a settler pick up cut him on the road, forced him to the side of the road and then 2 settlers came out with rocks and broke the car windows and hit him. They also poured sand into the car's engine and reportedly stole money. They severely beat him, causing injuries and bruises, and he was transferred to a hospital for treatment. They also smashed the windows of his vehicle.

An Israeli settler released livestock near residents’ homes.

On Augustus 4, 2026, Israeli forces, accompanied by military vehicles and bulldozers, stormed the Shaab al-Butum area and began demolishing the school building as part of the ongoing targeting of educational institutions in Masafer Yatta.