On Sunday, 10 Sivan 5773, a women traveling with her three children in the Negev area near Kfar Retamim encountered a stone barricade on the roadway which prevented the vehicle from passing. The large rocks were placed across the roadway to compel motorists to slow down.

Bedouins from the nearby community of Bir Hadaj began pounding the vehicle with rocks and other objects, doing so from a close distance. Some were on ATVs alongside the targeted vehicle. B’chasdei Hashem, as the attack continued the women managed to extricate herself and children by bypassing the rock roadblock. They were uninjured.

Residents of Retamim that night held a symbolic protest to send a warning to their Bedouin neighbors as well as to alert lawmakers to the “intifada type” attack. Retamim residents told the press this was not a lone incident, explaining the Bedouin villagers have been increasing attacks during recent months.

Retamim (רְתָמִים) is a kibbutz in the central Negev desert located three kilometers northwest of Revivim. It falls under the jurisdiction of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)