Late Saturday morning, 12 January 2008, settlers from the Hill 833 outpost (called Havat Ma'on by Israeli settlers) fired six shots at shepherds grazing their sheep in a nearby valley. Shepherds and international volunteers with them quickly moved to lower ground and sustained no injuries.
The incident was part of ongoing problems in the area as shepherds from the nearby villages of Tuba and Maghayir al Abeed have attempted to graze their sheep in valleys to the south of the outpost. The recent problems began on Friday, 11 January when settlers called soldiers to force the shepherds off land to the south of the outpost of which they hope to take control. The outpost is undergoing consistent expansion.
Soldiers arrived and told international volunteers from Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove that the shepherds must stay off the land.
Saturday morning, 12 January, the shepherds returned to the land to graze, despite the previous day’s intimidation. Five settlers were seen walking through the nearby village of Mufaqara on their way to Khoruba valley, south of the Hill 833 outpost. Another settler from the outpost the joined the five, at which time they pointed towards the shepherds in the valley, accompanied by international volunteers, as well as to internationals nearby monitoring. At that point, they fired six shots at the shepherds in the valley and ran back into the outpost.
Volunteers accompanying the shepherds called the police. They briefly came to the outpost, and immediately left. After internationals called them again, they replied that they “have better things to do.”
For a video of the incident, see,
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=5369538579313697940&hl=en-GB
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