- He suffers from toxins in his body from severe beating and is under medical observation, father tells Anadolu
RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL
A Palestinian man from the central occupied West Bank said he was abducted, beaten and interrogated for hours by illegal Israeli settlers before being thrown onto a roadside and left unconscious, amid growing warnings over settler violence in the territory.
Lying on a hospital bed in Ramallah, 28-year-old Owais Hammam spoke with visible bruises on his face and body, saying settlers surrounded him while he was praying during a walk near his village of Bani Harith west of Ramallah.
Abduction and assault
“I went for a brief walk near a spring in the al-Risan area, and while performing a prayer, I was surprised by a group of illegal settlers approaching quickly. They surrounded me from all directions and started beating me across my body,” he told Anadolu in a strained voice.
He said the settlers carried him up a mountain when he could no longer stand, where the assault intensified.
“After they beat me, they carried me and abducted me to the top of the mountain. There, they continued nonstop beatings, insults, humiliation, and degradation.”
Hammam said he eventually lost consciousness from the beatings.
‘My trust in God was strong’
He said settlers tied his hands, beat him with rifle butts, dragged him on the ground and stoned him, adding that some were soldiers disguised as settlers.
“They interrogated me while beating me, insulting my religion, and striking my entire body until blood flowed from everywhere.”
Despite the violence, he said he believed he would survive.
“My trust in God was strong that He would provide me a way out – and that is what happened.”
He said illegal settlers put him in a vehicle at dawn and drove around different roads before abandoning him.
“In the morning, they put me in the car, drove around, then threw me aside and left … I went straight to the hospital.”
Family describes torture and medical condition
His father, Hammam, said the family panicked when Owais disappeared before receiving a call from Israeli intelligence claiming settlers had detained him.
"They called and said illegal settlers had caught him while he was walking on the mountain."
“My son was brutally beaten by illegal settlers on top of the mountain. Then the army took him and continued beating and torturing him until the next morning. He was fasting, and they didn’t even allow him a sip of water,” he said.
The officer later called again, saying Owais had been handed to the
Palestinian Authority, advising the family to "watch over him and keep him away from the area." The father thanked God his son returned alive.
He added that Owais is under medical observation.
“He suffers from toxins in his body due to the severe beating and its impact on the muscles. Doctors found a type of toxin from the strength of the blows. They began giving him fluids and glucose.”
He said Owais remains in high spirits despite what he endured.
Rising violence and warnings of escalation
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has warned that settler attacks, often under military protection, reflect a “systematic policy” by Israel’s government to terrorize Palestinians and displace them.
On Nov. 18, the Israeli daily Haaretz quoted senior security officials warning of an “imminent explosion” in the West Bank due to settler violence, saying the army has lost control.
They said: “lawless elements harming Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank (the settlers) are receiving support from Israeli leaders, creating a permissive environment that enables them to act freely.”
According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal Israeli settlers carried out 621 attacks against Palestinians and property in the occupied West Bank in November.
More than 1,087 Palestinians have been killed and 10,700 injured in attacks by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied territory since October 2023, while over 20,500 have been arrested.
In July last year, the International Court of Justice said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.