Haaretz – Adapted

Citizens from the village of Burqa spoke to the newspaper about the Friday evening attack in which Qusai Maatan was shot dead by illegal settlers.

"We were informed that there were illegal settlers on the land," said Raed Rashid, a 70-year-old native of Buraq. "At first we made them run away, but then more of them kept coming, carrying stones and slingshots; they started throwing stones from both sides." "They moved towards us and began shooting indiscriminately, and the army arrived an hour later after Quasi was shot," as citizens reported.

According to him, Quasi's brother arrived at the scene, and Quasi remained there, a few dozen meters away from the settlers. "I stayed there for about five minutes before telling him to return." "Let's go and turn," he said, and then he was shot in the back by two settlers, one with a gun and the other with an M16 rifle. 

Quasi's father, Jamal, told the newspaper that his son worked in agriculture seasonally and in construction at other times; he did not graduate high school but wanted to do so this year. "The occupation snuffed out his dreams. He had six brothers, the youngest of whom was a young girl of only five years old, who till now is still asking about him," Father Jamal remarked, starting to sob.

There are numerous illegal settlement outposts all around the village of Burqa. Reports on the farming activities carried out by the villagers there used to always be provided by illegal settlers. In exchange, settlers till the soil to prove that the land is theirs.