Palestinian man in the West Bank says he was sexually assaulted by Israeli settlers

CNN

By Jeremy Diamond, Zeena Saifi, CNN

Khirbet Humsa, West Bank (CNN) — Dozens of masked Israeli settlers stormed into Qusai Abu al-Kebash’s small village last weekend in the middle of the night.

They grabbed Abu al-Kebash, bound him by his hands and legs and stripped him. He says they then zip-tied his genitals and paraded him through his community while beating him.

Israeli settlers have increasingly used violence against Palestinians in a bid to drive them from their homes in the occupied West Bank. But sexual assault appears to be a new weapon in these settlers’ arsenal of intimidation, pointing to a troubling new level of violence.

“They cut my belt off with a knife, as well as my boxers. They zip-tied my penis, tightened it and then dragged me all around the village,” Abu al-Kebash said, speaking to CNN in his first on-camera interview.

“It was very, very painful. … I thought they were going to kill me.”

The 29-year-old continued: “I felt humiliated and insulted. Why would they do that to us? Why do they tie someone up like that?”

Several members of Abu al-Kebash’s family who were present at the time corroborated his account. So did two foreign activists — volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement — who told CNN they also witnessed Abu al-Kebash being sexually assaulted.

Israeli authorities said they were investigating the alleged assault and settlers’ alleged theft of hundreds of Abu al-Kebash’s sheep, and on Thursday, told CNN that “seven suspects were arrested several days ago on suspicion of involvement in the incident.” Police also said they were under “a court-issued gag order,” as part of the investigation.

“The investigation is ongoing, led by the Israel Police in cooperation with security forces,” Israeli police said in their statement. “The Israel Police strongly condemns acts of violence and crime and will continue to operate to ensure the safety of residents and maintain public order in the area.”

According to the police report obtained by CNN, Israeli police are investigating suspicions of sexual assault, specifically an aggravated indecent assault using force and threats, as well as an attack on a helpless person and a crime motivated by racism.

Al-Kebash said police and investigators from the Shin Bet internal security service came to his village in the days following the incident and that he went to a police station to give his testimony.

Abu al-Kebash said he hasn’t been able to sleep since. His left eye remains bruised and bloody.

“I’m worried they’ll come back, that they’ll kill us in the middle of the night or burn our village like they said they would,” he said.

‘I thought I was going to die’

Settlers have sought to intimidate Abu al-Kebash and his family before, but not like this, he told CNN.

He said his wife, cousins and father were also zip-tied and beaten that same night. He recounted that the settlers poured water and dirt on them and threatened to rape the women, Abu al-Kebash and his relatives said. Settlers even hit the children, he said.

He and six of his relatives were hospitalized, they recounted, showing medical reports to CNN. Abu al-Kebash said settlers broke the village’s security cameras and cut the electricity after stealing everyone’s phones. He said he believes it was to prevent documentation of their assault.

Two foreign anti-occupation activists, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity because they fear reprisals, said they were also bound and threatened.

Both activists told CNN they were in Abu-al Kebash’s tent when he was beaten and sexually assaulted. The settlers first tied them up before turning their attention to Abu al-Kebash, the activists said.

One activist, a 24-year-old American, said the settlers – “armed with clubs and knives on their belts” – beat them to the ground, ransacked their bags and stole their phones, wallets, rings and passports.

Describing the assault on Abu al-Kebash, she said that after his genitals were zip-tied, the settlers began “brutally beating him into the dirt with their stick.”

“He was lying in a foetal position, and all he could do was scream and flinch while they were beating him…it was absolutely harrowing,” she said.

The second activist, a 25-year-old Portuguese woman, said she was on the floor when the settlers pulled Abu al-Kebash’s trousers down and forced her to watch them assault him.

Before they began, the Portuguese activist said she asked the settlers what they wanted, and one replied, ‘we want to kill you.’

“I honestly thought I was going to die,” she said.

The American activist told CNN the settlers grabbed her by the hair and dragged her, tearing out a large chunk. When they poured water over them, the American said she feared it was gasoline and that they were going to burn everyone to the ground.

“One started messing with my belt, so I started screaming. I thought they were going to rape us, especially after witnessing what they did to Qusai,” she said.

The courage to speak

The shepherd said he hopes police will bring his assailants to justice and return the sheep that are his livelihood.

But Palestinians have largely lost faith in Israeli investigations into settler violence, with few ever resulting in arrests, let alone convictions. Instead, Palestinians and anti-occupation activists describe a culture of impunity that pervades the Israeli settler community, with Israeli soldiers at times standing by as settlers intimidate, harass and even attack Palestinians.

Israel has significantly escalated military activities in the occupied West Bank since 2023 as the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed to increase Jewish settlements and entrench Israel’s grip on the land, with the goal of preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Israeli settlement in the West Bank is considered illegal under international law.

Israeli settlers have also ramped up attacks on Palestinians and their properties, a near-daily occurrence. Violence has spiked once again amid the war with Iran. Nine Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the war began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has accused Israel of using the “cover of war with Iran” to accelerate further what it describes as the “ethnic cleansing” of the West Bank.

Abu al-Kebash said his family had been displaced by Israeli government demolitions in the past and now face the threat of displacement from settlers.

“We hope they won’t succeed. We will remain steadfast here. We have no other place. This is our home. We’ve been living here for a very long time,” he said.

The American activist, who was on her first volunteering trip to the West Bank, said the experience showed her the “depth of the Israeli occupation’s systemic violence.”

“It really set in and became apparent that there was no one to call that could offer any protection for the family…All we could do was pray that the sun coming up would mean some kind of rest,” she said.

Despite the risks, Abu al-Kebash said he felt it was important to share his story.

“I’m sharing my story in its entirety so people can see — so the world can see what’s happening. We haven’t done anything to them, and yet they came and beat us and did this to us,” the shepherd said. “That is why I have the courage to speak.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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