Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Tania Krämer
01:07 Sarit Michaeli | Human rights activist
01:49 March 7, 2025
03:26 Haitham Zayed | Sheep herder

Script:

We follow Israeli activists collecting evidence in the occupied West Bank. 
They suspect that some of these sheep were stolen by extremist Israeli settlers two weeks ago, and they actually belong to Palestinians. 
 
They are now part of a herd belonging to an illegal outpost farm run by settlers.  
The activists are documenting brandings on the sheep’s ears – which identify their true owner.  
00:27 +++UPSOUND EN Insert: Voice of Sarit Michaeli+++ 
‘There are very clear signs on those two sheep’ 
The situation quickly gets tense as Israeli settlers approach. 
 
00:43 +++Tania, in the car+++  
“So we all managed to get back to our cars, but the settlers followed us here and they are preventing us from leaving.” 
  
The activists call the army and police - for protection from the settlers.  
 
Rights groups say stealing sheep is one of the methods Israeli settlers use to deprive Palestinians of their livelihoods and force them off their land.  
 
01:06 +++Sarit Michaeli, Human rights activist, EN+++  
“So the area we are present in now has essentially been completely taken over by settlers who operate these so-called herding farms or agricultural farms. And the way they have done it is through driving the Palestinian herders from this area using violence. This has been ongoing for years. // I have to stress that we are here on private Palestinian land, and there is no closed military zone or anything that prevents our presence here.”  
 
We are allowed to leave the area but police arrest one activist and one foreign journalist, based on complaints by the settlers.   
 
01:48 +++Videofootage phone 7.3.25, source: Mistaclim/ Reuters 7387, March 7.2025 +++ 
 This footage, taken by other activists in from early March,  shows the alleged crime the Israeli activists were trying to investigate. It appears to show settlers herding away over 1000 sheep and goats.  
The Israeli police have rejected this, saying that the incident began when a Palestinian shepherd stole sheep from a nearby settlement. DW’s request for further explanation went unanswered. 
It’s due to incidents like this that Israeli activists keep what they call a protective presence for Palestinians in the area.  
Haitham Zayed, a young farmer who says his sheep were among those stolen, has been waiting to see what the group found out. He says he recognises some of his sheep in their videos.  
02:32+++upsound Haitham Zayed++  
“These two sheep are mine, this mark indicates that these sheep are mine” 
 
Haitham belongs to a community of herders here in the Jordan Valley, part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Most families here depend solely on their sheep and goats, selling products like milk and cheese for their income. 
The United Nations and human rights groups have documented an increase in Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and Bedouin herders here since October 7 and the war in Gaza began.   
Haitham says about 400 of his animals were stolen during the incident in early March, and that some were injured and killed during the attack. He feels the settlers’ goal is to force them from their land – and that the authorities won’t hold them accountable 
 
03:23++++Haitham Zayed, sheep herder/farmer, ARA+++  
“After October 7, the settler has become untouchable. I feel that the settler who is harassing me, the community, and the shepherds, holds more power than the army and the police. When we call the police or the army, they warn me: ‘If we come and don’t find the settler, we will hold you responsible.’ 
 
The activists hope that with photos and video of the animals, the community’s lawyer can get the police to take action. But the young farmer doesn’t have much faith in the authorities. 
 
03:57 +++Haitham Zayed, sheep herder/farmer, ARA++++  
“The only thing we are focused on for the future is tracking our sheep wherever they are.//cut//We will continue searching for them, determined to bring them back.” 

Without their animals, Haitham, and the residents here don’t know how long life on their land as they know it, can last.   
END