TikTok Genocide
Story of the abduction of an aldery man in Ein el-Hilweh by an "only driver" IDF reservist
Original Social Media Post
"אחרי שעתיים וחצי, התברר שסתם לקחתם אותו לאיזה מחסום, אחד מתוך 900 מחסומים בגדה המערבית, אזקתם לו את הידיים באזיקון, קשרתם לו את העיניים, אמרתם לו תחכה בשקט. ובשעה אחת בלילה שחררתם אותו. שם, רחוק 21 ק"מ מהבית. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNymSwv2jAZ/?igsh=MTUwM2tpZmw0NTdjbg==" - Source
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Archivist Notes On This Video
The full story:
"@gur.iris: Hello to the reservist I met on Friday night, and since then you haven’t left my thoughts. “Why? Why?” — that’s all I asked, and you shouted back at me: “What do you think? That I want to come in the middle of the night and harass a man who could be my father?” Your response surprised me. Usually, the soldiers who come to harass Palestinian communities wear masks on their faces, film us silently with their phones, blind us with a flashlight, ask for IDs, and order us all to move before making arrests. And yes, all of that was done by the soldiers the next morning when they came with a representative of the Civil Administration to destroy with a bulldozer the family compound — the compound they have lived in since 1967.
You arrived with two young female soldiers and a young “force commander” like them. You were only the driver, as you told me. Even the female soldiers the next morning behaved in the familiar way — with coldness. But you were different, and your emotional reaction hasn’t left my mind. “Do you think I want to harass in the middle of the night a man my father’s age?” you said. I looked at you and asked, “So why are you doing it?” “What do you think? What does it look like? I have commanders above me. They decide. I’m just the driver here.” Your tone rose; you were in turmoil, bursting out in shouts: “Four hundred days I was in Gaza, I defended you. Then you said nothing. Four hundred days in Gaza.” Your cry pierced me deeply. It took me a moment, and I understood. Even the Palestinian man whose father’s house had just been demolished that morning understood, and tried to calm things down: “He’s a good man,” he tried to defend you, so that I too would calm down.
I don’t know who you are, reservist. You seemed to me like many other Israeli men, around 40, gray in your hair — perhaps the result of 400 days of reserve duty in Gaza. What did you see there, in the killing fields called Gaza, and perhaps already on October 7th in the communities near the border, at the party sites, on the “road of death” — what did you experience there? Did you ask not to go back there, and so they transferred you to reserve duty in the West Bank, to rest, just to be the driver? I don’t know your name, if you’re married, if you have children, elderly parents, what your financial situation is. I only know that since Friday night you haven’t left my mind.
“You don’t have to follow every order,” my partner from the protective presence shift told you. “I don’t refuse! I’ll never refuse in my life!” you shouted back at her.
The conversation continued with the two female soldiers who came with you in the jeep. Out of the corner of my eye I kept watching you, circling around the event restlessly, listening from the side. The young women, maybe 19 years old, truly believed they were protecting Israeli civilians by what they were doing — clearing Palestinians from the area because “one day they might do something.” “Have you already forgotten October 7th?” they said.
20 hours ago — jordan_valley_activists:
Suddenly it happened. You were given an order: to take the homeowner, an elderly and sick man, exhausted physically and mentally from the terrible day he had endured. You put him into the military jeep — the one you were only the driver of — and drove quickly without saying why or where you were taking him.
After two and a half hours, it turned out that you had simply taken him to some checkpoint, one of 900 checkpoints in the West Bank. You bound his hands with a zip tie, blindfolded him, told him to wait quietly. And at one o’clock in the morning you released him there, 21 kilometers from his home. You were only the driver."
Event Notes
Ethnic cleansing of the Khirbet Ein al-HilwehEin al-Hilweh is a small shepherding community in the northern Jordan Valley, east of the occupied West Bank, located near Route 90, below the Israeli settlement of Maskiot, in the Wadi Malha area, close to Tubas. Around 5 families (≈60 people) living mainly from sheep and cattle herding in an isolated environment.
Area faces growing Israeli settlement expansion with illegal outposts, privatization of common grazing land, and declaration of “nature reserves” used to expropriate Palestinian land. Settlers erect fences and restrict Palestinian movement, often with backing from military forces.
Residents, especially shepherds, experience harassment, threats, property damage, livestock theft, and restricted access to water and grazing land.
According to ACRI (Association for Civil rights in Israel)
"The residential area of the Ein al-Hilweh shepherding community in the northern Jordan Valley consists of five extended families, about 70 residents, who make their living from herding sheep and cattle. A number of years ago, settlers came to the area with the stated goal of expelling the community and taking over its lands and resources. For years Palestinian residents of the area dealt with harassment from the settlers, but since the outbreak of the war there has been a major escalation of settler violence. In some cases, they even act with the overt backing of the military—or those appearing to be military—and law enforcement that turns a blind eye to the violence. The grazing areas are sites of frequent violence, and Palestinians who go to the area are subject to threats, harassment, property damage. They are also often blocked from grazing, which has led to the gradual restriction of their access to grazing areas. Additionally, residents of the outpost settlement constantly (day and night) show up where the Palestinians live to steal sheep and cattle; damage water tanks and solar panels; make noise; drive recklessly on ATVs; and intimidate and threaten the men, women, and children of the community—sometimes while armed. Over the past two months the situation has become unbearable, and the community faces displacement."
Timeline of the events:
On March 31, 2025: Human rights organization ACRI (Association for Civil Rights in Israel) issued an appeal to Israeli authorities, warning of escalating settler violence—including harassment, property damage, and threats to livelihoods—targeting the Ein al-Hilweh shepherding community. They demanded protection and dismantling of nearby violent outposts.
On April 14, 2025: Israeli settlers stormed Ein al-Hilweh after midnight, attempting to steal livestock. The theft was prevented by local residents and activists.
On May 23, 2025: Settlers erected barbed-wire fences on privately owned Palestinian land in Ein al-Hilweh, cutting off access to grazing lands despite residents holding land deeds (“Tabu”).
On May 30, 2025: Settlers expanded fencing operations, continuing a steady campaign of land appropriation. Local sources reported that the fencing was carried out near settler encampments, cutting off access to crucial grazing areas relied upon by Palestinian herding communities.
On June 30, 2025: The UN OCHA reported that six Palestinian households (28 people, including nine children) began dismantling their own homes and livestock structures in Ein al-Hilweh due to repeated settler attacks and intimidation including restricted access to water sources and grazing areas.
On July 3, 2025: Israeli occupation forces issued stop-work orders against all homes and livestock pens in the Ein al-Hilweh community of the northern Jordan Valley, giving residents until July 16 to comply under threat of demolition. The orders affect about 13 families, whose longstanding structures are now at risk, amid recent settler violence including tent raids, attempted livestock theft, and blocked access to grazing land.
On August 20, 2025: Settlers placed Israeli flags near the tents and homes of Ein al-Hilweh residents in a provocative display amid ongoing displacement threats.
On Augustus 21, at 7 a.m., soldiers and a representative of the Civil Administration arrived in Ein al-Hilweh, in the northern Jordan Valley, and used a bulldozer to demolish the entire compound — houses and a barn — belonging to the Kadri Darajma family, as well as the barn of the Fathi Darajma family, who have lived there for about 60 years. The soldiers refused to accept or even look at the demolition delay orders issued by the court, valid until 3 September 2025.
On Augustus 22, during the night, a reservist jeep driver claimed to an Israeli Activist he didn’t want to harass Palestinians but followed orders, reflecting emotional turmoil after long service in Gaza. Later, the same unit detained an elderly Palestinian man, blindfolded and zip-tied him, then abandoned him at night 21 km from his home.
Main sources reporting:
Middle East Eye, ACRI, B’Tselem, WAFA, Palestine Chronicle.
The details for each video come from social media. None of it has been verified.