Palestinian farmers battle settler sabotage to save Hebron crops, livestock

West Bank farmers defy daily settler attacks, sheep theft, and military restrictions to protect their land from agricultural sabotage.

Palestinian farmer Theeba al-Sabaa guards her remaining grapevines from daily settler attacks and agricultural sabotage in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar [Screen grab/Aljazeera]

Amid the grapevines that once provided a steady income for her family, 56-year-old Palestinian farmer Theeba al-Sabaa spends much of her day guarding her home and farmland in the occupied West Bank from settlers.

From dusk till dawn, she works on her land in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, known by locals as “Jabal Sabaa”.

Theeba is engaged in a daily battle against the encroaching settler outposts that have emerged among the rolling hills that surround her, and which block access to sections of her land.

“By God, the land has taught me patience, and to cling to my right, for as long as I have a right, I must take it and never let it go,” she told Al Jazeera.

“I will never leave it because I worked hard on it, I toil and sweat on it, so I will not leave my toil and sweat, or the toil of my children and my husband, to go to someone else.”

Weaponising livestock

Since mid-2024, when settlers established new outposts on the nearby hills, every one of Theeba’s moves has been monitored.

Settlers frequently approach the perimeter of her home and deliberately release livestock into the cultivated fields.

“They enter with their sheep into our land after we plow and fix it, grazing in it, trampling the crops, and stomping on them with their sheep, leaving nothing,” Theeba said.

“As soon as they feel any movement or anyone entering the land, you find them attacking us immediately.”

This intimidation extends to the adjacent fields, where 59-year-old Anwar Sabarneh lives with his extended family of seven brothers.

Due to the repeated settler violations, two of his brothers have been forced to abandon their land.

Sabarneh, who supports a family of 14, owns several dunams of vineyards located just 300 metres (980 feet) from his home. With aggressive settlers around, reaching them has become a dangerous ordeal.

Palestinian farmer Anwar Sabarneh, whose sheep have been confined for months, is barred by the Israeli military from accessing his nearby vineyards in Beit Ummar [Screen grab/Aljazeera]

Sabarneh said that the Israeli army even demands permits from Palestinians to work on their own land.

“The army came with the settlers to ask me for a permit so I can work in my home, in front of my house’s door, and on my land where I am the rightful owner,” Sabarneh said.

Farmers are also barred from building anything on their land. Sabarneh’s sheep have also been locked in a barn for over eight months due to the dangers posed by settlers.

“If they see me taking the sheep out, the settlers chase me, kidnap them, and steal them,” he said.

When Sabarneh’s children have tried to retrieve their stolen sheep, Israeli soldiers have arrested and beaten them.

Repeated pogroms by settlers against Palestinian farmers reflect a broader strategy targeting agriculture across the southern West Bank.

Settlers and the Israeli troops carried out 11,074 attacks in the West Bank during the first half of 2026, according to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. This includes 3,488 carried out by settlers.

Hasan Breijieh, a settlement affairs expert and director at the commission, told Al Jazeera that continuous settlement expansionism, alongside restrictions on Palestinian movement, are the primary reasons that so many Palestinians have been forced to flee their farms.

“Military gates erected at the entrances of Palestinian communities have tightened control over… access to their orchards and vineyards,” he said.

Bypass roads, built by Israel, have also hindered “connectivity between Palestinian communities”, Breijieh said.

Under such restrictions, Palestinian farmers have faced a fourth consecutive season without being able to harvest olives, grapes, or guava. Their lands have been “neither plowed nor pruned”, and have been forcibly abandoned.

In the face of such oppression, Palestinian women like Theeba al-Sabaa have continued to play a pivotal role in protecting their land, particularly when men have been killed or detained by Israeli forces.

“They continue to maintain their leadership role in preserving the family’s agricultural legacy today,” Breijieh said. “This land was historically the primary source of livelihood for families, and a Palestinian cannot leave it voluntarily, no matter the sacrifices.”

He recalled his own grandfather, who went to his fields to bid farewell before dying. “Goodbye, vineyard,” he said to his land.

西岸农民无视定居者每日的袭击、羊只被盗和军事限制，保护自己的土地免受农业破坏。

巴勒斯坦农民 Theeba al-Sabaa 在约旦河西岸城镇拜特乌马尔 (Beit Ummar) 保护她剩余的葡萄藤免受定居者的日常袭击和农业破坏 [屏幕抓取/半岛电视台]

在曾经为她家提供稳定收入的葡萄藤间，56 岁的巴勒斯坦农民蒂巴·萨巴每天大部分时间都在被占领的西岸地区守护着她的家园和农田，防止定居者侵犯。

从黄昏到黎明，她都在位于希伯伦以北的贝特乌玛尔镇（当地人称之为“萨巴山”）的土地上劳作。

蒂巴每天都在与在她周围连绵起伏的山丘间出现的、不断扩张的定居者前哨站进行斗争，这些前哨站阻碍了她进入部分土地的道路。

“上帝啊，这片土地教会了我耐心，教会了我坚持自己的权利，只要我拥有权利，我就必须捍卫它，绝不放手，”她告诉半岛电视台。

“我永远不会离开它，因为我为它付出了很多心血，我辛勤劳作，所以我不会放弃我的劳动成果，也不会放弃我的孩子和丈夫的劳动成果，去交给别人。”

将牲畜武器化

自 2024 年年中定居者在附近山丘上建立新前哨站以来，Theeba 的每一个举动都受到了监视。

定居者经常接近她家的周边，故意将牲畜放生到耕地里。

“我们耕耘整地之后，他们就带着羊群进入我们的土地，在地里吃草，践踏庄稼，用羊群踩踏庄稼，什么也不留下，”蒂巴说。

“只要他们感觉到任何动静或有人进入这片土地，他们就会立即攻击我们。”

这种恐吓也蔓延到了邻近的田野，59 岁的安瓦尔·萨巴尔内和他的七个兄弟组成的大家庭就住在那里。

由于定居者屡次侵犯土地所有权，他的两个兄弟被迫放弃了他们的土地。

萨巴内赫要养活一家14口人，他拥有数杜纳姆的葡萄园，距离家只有300米（980英尺）。由于周围有咄咄逼人的定居者，前往葡萄园已变成了一件危险的事情。

巴勒斯坦农民安瓦尔·萨巴尔内赫的羊群已被以色列军方圈养数月，他被禁止进入位于贝特乌马尔附近的葡萄园。[截图/半岛电视台]

萨巴尔内赫说，以色列军队甚至要求巴勒斯坦人向他们提供许可才能在自己的土地上工作。

萨巴内说：“军队和定居者一起来找我，要我发放许可证，这样我才能在自己的家门口、自己的房子前、自己的土地上工作，因为我是这片土地的合法所有者。”

农民也被禁止在自己的土地上建造任何东西。由于定居者带来的危险，萨巴内赫的羊群也被关在羊圈里超过八个月了。

“如果他们看到我把羊带出去，定居者就会追赶我，绑架并偷走它们，”他说。

萨巴内赫的孩子们试图找回被偷的羊时，遭到以色列士兵的逮捕和殴打。

定居者对巴勒斯坦农民的反复迫害反映了针对约旦河西岸南部农业的更广泛战略。

根据殖民化和隔离墙抵抗委员会的数据，2026年上半年，定居者和以色列军队在西岸共发动了11074起袭击，其中3488起由定居者发动。

定居点事务专家兼委员会主任哈桑·布雷杰告诉半岛电视台，持续的定居点扩张主义以及对巴勒斯坦人行动的限制，是导致众多巴勒斯坦人被迫逃离农场的主要原因。

他说：“在巴勒斯坦社区入口处设立的军用大门加强了对……其果园和葡萄园的进出控制。”

布雷杰表示，以色列修建的绕行道路也阻碍了“巴勒斯坦社区之间的联系”。

在这样的限制下，巴勒斯坦农民连续第四个季节无法收获橄榄、葡萄或番石榴。他们的土地“既未耕种也未修剪”，被迫弃耕。

面对这样的压迫，像蒂巴·萨巴这样的巴勒斯坦妇女继续在保护她们的土地方面发挥着关键作用，尤其是在以色列军队杀害或拘留男性的时候。

“他们至今仍在传承家族的农业传统方面发挥着领导作用，”布雷杰说。“这片土地历来是这些家庭的主要生计来源，无论付出多大的牺牲，巴勒斯坦人都不能自愿离开它。”

他想起了自己的祖父，祖父临终前曾到田里向田地告别。“再见了，葡萄园，”他对着自己的土地说道。