"It becomes a lot more personal because you’re seeing the people who are affected by it.
"It’s a lot more confronting because you can’t just switch off and tune out."
He recalled meeting Palestinian man Zachariah, whom he had earlier seen on social media being shot by an Israeli settler.
When he met Zachariah, months after he was shot, Zachariah could barely pick up his children and was unable to travel long distances.
"It becomes a lot more real because these stories aren’t isolated to 30-second clips you see on social media."
He also saw the man who shot Zachariah walking about scot-free and continuing to intimidate other Palestinians, Mr Yeoman said.
"If the Palestinians were to report every incident on their farm, they would never get any farming done."
He said everything happening in the West Bank was important to understand the war in Gaza was not an isolated incident.
"It’s very much part of this decades-long systemic practice of persecuting Palestinians and forcing them off their land and out of their homes."
He saw many Palestinian homes in the West Bank being bulldozed by Israeli soldiers, without the occupants being allowed to remove their possessions.
However, he still felt fear for Palestinians.
He and a Palestinian man were detained by Israeli soldiers and received completely different treatment.
While he was given food and toilet breaks, his Palestinian friend was zip-tied and blindfolded.
"The intimidation factor and terror gets instilled into these farmers and civilians that they could be arrested at any time."
Along with the destruction, Mr Yeoman said being on the ground allowed him to see the resilience, humanity and beauty of Palestinian culture.
He had mixed emotions about coming home to New Zealand because he felt he was leaving everyone he had met behind.
This past weekend he spoke at the University of Otago Clubs and Societies building about his experience and was working on creating a video resource to share with others, he said.
