Israeli settlers, with military and police escort, steal sheep. Police arrest the sheep’s owner.

On Saturday, 3 February 2024, at around 9:00 A.M., about five settlers, some of them masked and armed with clubs, knives and firearms, arrived in some pastureland near the community of Ras ‘Ein al-’Auja in the southern Jordan Valley. They chased shepherds from the community, claiming they had stolen a sheep from them. Subsequently, dozens of settlers accompanied by soldiers and police officers went into the community and clashed with local residents and Israeli activists. During the confrontation, which included mutual shoving and stone-throwing, soldiers and settlers fired in the air. A community resident was injured in the head by a stone thrown by settlers and another fell and broke her leg. Both were treated at a local hospital. Several settlers entered residents’ livestock enclosures and one of them dragged a sheep out of the enclosure belonging to Ahmad Rashaidah (51). Another settler tore off the sheep’s ear tag. Police officers arrested Muhammad Rashaidah (57), the sheep owner’s brothe