5 settlers arrested for allegedly attacking Palestinian shepherd, killing his sheep

Police arrested five settlers suspected of breaking into a Palestinian shepherd’s home in the southern West Bank overnight between Monday and Tuesday, slaughtering his sheep and attacking other residents.

The incident was one of several alleged extremist acts and violent incidents to scar the territory on Monday, with attacks recorded from the northern city of Jenin to the Hebron area in the south.

The unrest left several Israelis and Palestinians injured amid a recent surge in violence and extremist settler activity. It comes as Israel has announced major steps to tighten its hold on the territory, announcing a string of new settlements and a major upgrade to the holy site of Rachel’s Tomb.

In Jenin, a Catholic church indicated that Muslim “outlaws” torched its Christmas tree just days before the holiday. In the central West Bank, two Palestinians were seriously injured and three Israelis were lightly hurt in an altercation. In another incident, masked settlers were filmed throwing stones and harassing Palestinians and left-wing activists.

The break-in at the home of the Palestinian shepherd, identified in Palestinian media as Mahmoud Dramin, was the second time since October that his property has been damaged. On Monday night, security forces were dispatched to his compound in Samu, a town in the South Hebron Hills, after receiving reports that a group of young men from the nearby settlement of Susya were raiding the village.

The attackers could be seen in security camera footage beating sheep in their pen with what appear to be large metal poles, before the video suddenly cut out after one of the men disarmed the surveillance device.

In footage taken after the incident, one of the sheep was seen lying bloodied and lifeless on the ground alongside the rest of the livestock huddled in the pen. The assailants also reportedly threw stones at the home, shattering its windows.

זוכרים את התקיפה בדיר בפאתי סמוע בסוף אוקטובר? (קשה לזכור, לאור עומס האירועים) פורעים הרגו באכזריות כבשים בדיר של מחמוד דראמין ובני משפחה נפגעו מגז מדמיע. התיעוד ותלונה הוגשו אז למשטרה. הלילה שוב תקפו, הרגו כבשים וגם שברו חלונות של הבית. מחמוד אמר לי שהנזק הפעם גרוע יותר pic.twitter.com/S4CnmohUPv

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— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) December 23, 2025

Settlers also allegedly pepper-sprayed three Palestinians, who were taken to the hospital for medical treatment, according to the IDF and police.

The attack on Dramin’s home in October was similar: In that instance, Dramin told The Times of Israel, eight or nine settlers smashed windows, vandalized a car, sprayed tear gas into the house, and killed livestock. Four of his relatives were taken to the hospital afterward.

Following Monday night’s attack, police said they searched a nearby compound belonging to the five suspects and found “extensive evidence.” They detained the suspects and transferred them for interrogation by West Bank District police detectives.

Jenin church says ‘outlaws’ set fire to Christmas tree

Earlier on Monday, a Christmas tree and nativity were burned in Jenin’s Holy Redeemer Church, the Latin Catholic church said on Facebook.

The Palestinian Authority’s civil defense agency kept the fire contained within the church gates, according to the church. No injuries or arrests were reported.

The church indicated that the arson before dawn was thought to have been committed by Muslim Palestinians rather than Jewish Israeli settlers. Father Amer Jubran, the parish priest, said in a statement that the fire was a “shameful and reprehensible act perpetrated by outlaws” and did not reflect Muslim-Christian relations among Palestinians.

The Christmas tree at the Holy Redeemer Church in Jenin was set on fire and destroyed. pic.twitter.com/9rf6s0ll79

— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) December 22, 2025

Jenin-area church leaders met with Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub and other PA officials at the governor’s office later Monday to discuss the arson investigation and stress inter-communal unity, according to the Holy Redeemer Church.

Referring to Israel, the church said, “We’re certain that this incident only serves the occupation’s agenda — to sow division among our people.”

Three Israelis lightly injured, two Palestinians seriously hurt in clash

Also on Monday, three Israeli settlers were lightly injured from stone-throwing, and two Palestinian men seriously injured from gunfire, in a clash in the central West Bank.

Police said Palestinians threw stones at a group of settlers, one of whom opened fire with an army-grade weapon in response, near the settlement of Almon northeast of Jerusalem.

The three injured Israelis were taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Magen David Adom paramedics took the Palestinians, both in serious condition, to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus. Another Palestinian was lightly wounded by the gunfire and was evacuated from the area by Red Crescent paramedics.

Police arrived at the scene and launched an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

Masked settlers seen throwing stones at Palestinians, left-wing Israelis

A bit farther north, in the Palestinian village of Mukhmas, footage taken on Monday afternoon showed several masked settlers hurling stones at Palestinians and at activists from the left-wing Israeli human rights group Torat Tzedek.

????Now:
Settlers attack Palestinians & Human rights activists in Mikhmas.

Literally while activists were on the phone with Police being gaslighted about imminenet danger, Aprox. 6 Settler terrorists attacked with rocks and slingshots, causing damage to property.

This is ???????? face. pic.twitter.com/Z6xmXrHp28

— Herd of Justice (@JustHerds) December 22, 2025

Rabbi Arik Ascherman, who heads the group, was seen in the video in the driver’s seat of a car as the settlers approach. He told The Times of Israel that two of the car windows were shattered but no one was hurt.

Ascherman, who has been attacked previously by extremists, said he and other activists drove to Mukhmas to warn of an imminent settler attack after two stick-wielding settlers charged at them near a barn away from the village. About six settlers followed the activists and threw stones at them, he said.

According to Ascherman, the assailants came from the illegal outpost of Kol Mevaser, one of several settler communities that have encircled Mukhmas over the past few months.

It is the same outpost whose inhabitants in October carried out a large-scale attack on Mukhmas, wounding Palestinians and activists, burning cars and olive groves, and stealing livestock, Ascherman said.

At the time, it took Israeli security forces two hours to arrive at the scene from the time they were first contacted, he added. He said the outpost has a standing demolition order against it, and Israeli security forces have dismantled it repeatedly but the settlers have kept rebuilding until “the forces gave up” a few weeks ago.

Following Monday’s stone throwing, Israeli forces again dismantled the outpost, but it was back up again about an hour later, Ascherman said. No arrests were reported.

Settlers play loud music outside the Palestinian village of Duma in the northern West Bank, December 22, 2025. (courtesy Molly Hart)

Molly Hart, the activist who captured the footage of Ascherman’s car being attacked, later traveled to the Palestinian village of Duma in the northern West Bank. Hart said settlers came to Duma four times that evening and harassed people, including by shining flashlights in their faces.

In another incident, Hart told The Times of Israel, a fellow activist was left limping after being hit in the leg by a stone hurled by a settler who had walked into the Palestinians’ compound and rattled the ramshackle homes.

That settler had broken off from three others who were playing loud music from a boombox that they placed just outside the village. Police arrived about 15 minutes after the settlers left and made no arrests, she said. Police and the IDF did not respond to requests for comment.

The IDF has recorded more than 752 incidents of Jewish nationalistic crime and settler violence since the start of the year. The total for 2024 was 675 incidents. Much of the violence in recent months came amid a surge in attacks during the Palestinian olive harvest.