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Source: https://www.jns.org/israel-palestinianconflict/binyamin-regional-council/23/8/14/310484/
What Happened in Burqa?
(JNS) Akiva Van Koningsveld - A visit to the desolate open area between the small Jewish farming community of Oz Zion and Burqa, where Palestinian Kosai Ma'atan, 19, died on Aug. 4, seems to tell an entirely different story than the prevailing narrative. The U.S. State Department has repeatedly referred to the incident as a "terror attack" by Israelis. According to multiple Israeli witnesses, a large crowd of Arabs from Burqa confronted a lone Jewish shepherd grazing his flock. "Suddenly, a mass of 30 or 40 people began to surround me from all directions and throw stones at me," the young shepherd said Thursday. "I called the guys here in the Oz Zion area. They came very quickly." Yet as sunset approached, between 80 and 120 more Arab villagers arrived at the scene, the shepherd related, and initiated a "crazy attack" using wooden and iron bars. Israeli Yehiel Indore, 22, has said that he fired a warning shot but was then surrounded, and he only shot to kill in self-defense after he was struck in the head by a rock. Indore said he never experienced "such severe danger to life" during his IDF service. "We tried to escape the whole time [but] they attacked us from several directions." TikTok videos shared by Palestinian accounts show local Palestinians brandishing wooden clubs. As to claims that the Jewish group sought the confrontation, a spokesperson for the Binyamin Regional Council explained that Burqa is not visible from the site of the confrontation. The site is in Area C, under full Israeli control, and Israelis are allowed to be there without restrictions. The Arab rioters had to hike approximately 500 to 700 meters (550 to 765 yards) uphill (from Area B) before encountering the shepherd.