A Palestinian woman farmer had been preparing her sheep for Eid-ul-Azha. Before the festival came, she says, Jewish settlers in the West Bank raided the farm before dawn and stole the sheep.

The loss has not only spoiled the joy of Eid but also taken away the income she expected from selling the animals.

According to the farmer, Samiha Rashid, about 45 sheep were stolen from her home in the Masafer Yatta area near Hebron. Earlier, the attackers had also stolen the family's guard dogs.

"This is our livelihood. My husband and I live on the income from these sheep. Now there is nothing left even to pay for my husband's treatment or my own expenses," she said. She said her husband has cancer.

Eid-ul-Azha, one of Islam's main religious festivals, is held around the main days of the Hajj. Muslims sacrifice animals in memory of Prophet Ibrahim's readiness to sacrifice his son at God's command, and distribute the meat to the poor.

Rashid alleged that settlers attack farming families in the area almost every day, and throw chilli powder at homes and children.

CCTV footage verified by Reuters shows masked people leading sheep out of the farm in the dark. The news agency confirmed the video's location as near Masafer Yatta.

Settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has risen markedly since the Gaza war began in October 2023. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has called the violence Jewish terrorism and a national disgrace.

Asked about the theft, the Israeli army said it had deployed troops to the scene but found no settlers there, and the matter was then handed to the police.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian agriculture ministry said about 4,000 livestock had been stolen by settlers since the start of 2026, and claimed these attacks had cost Palestinian farmers more than $5 million.

Settlement expansion in the West Bank has accelerated under Israel's current hard-right coalition government, and several ministers have openly backed annexing the West Bank.

Most countries regard the settlements, built on land captured in the 1967 war, as illegal, though Israel rejects this, citing historical and religious ties.

Palestinians have long sought an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. A 2024 European Union report said more than 700,000 Israeli settlers and more than 3 million Palestinians live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The report is based on Reuters.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.