DaysofPal – Armed Israeli settlers have intensified coordinated attacks on Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, killing two residents, terrorizing schoolchildren, and accelerating an organized effort to forcibly displace villagers from their land.
In the village of al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, around 10 armed settlers opened fire for nearly two hours on Monday toward homes, streets and the local school, which serves some 530 pupils under the age of 15, residents said.
Witnesses reported that gunmen targeted the school’s windows and courtyards directly. Teachers and residents rushed to evacuate the children to what they hoped were safer areas, but the shooting continued in full view of Israeli soldiers, who, according to locals, provided protection to the settlers and did not intervene.
The attack left 13-year-old Ous Hamdi al Naasan dead, whose father was killed in 2019 in a massacre in the same village.
Another resident, 32-year-old Jihad Marzouq Abu Na’im, was also shot dead as he joined others trying to rescue the trapped children.
For a second consecutive day after the assault, Israeli forces stormed al-Mughayyir with dozens of military vehicles, fired tear gas at homes, sealed off the village, declared it a closed military zone, and shut its western entrance, forcing shops to close, residents said.
“The occupation is seeking full control over the village, which is bordered on the east by the Jordan Valley, to displace its residents,” Amin Abu Alia, head of al Mughayyir’s village council, told the Palestine Online news site.
He said that al Mughayyir’s historical area of about 43,000 dunums (43 square kilometers) has been almost entirely seized, leaving residents confined to around 950 dunums.
Abu Alia described what he called cancerous settlement expansion: al Mughayyir is now encircled by seven settler outposts on all sides except the western entrance, which is itself frequently attacked by settlers.
A permanent Israeli military checkpoint at that entrance, he said, subjects residents to harassment and arrests, rendering the community almost completely isolated.
He said settler attacks have become daily and organized, carried out by coordinated groups that launch mass raids on farmland, steal livestock and seize water sources, all as part of a broader strategy to force Palestinians off their land.
These assaults, he added, occur “under the direct protection” of Israeli forces, who provide “full cover” for the perpetrators.
In parallel, residents of Yanoun, a tiny village southeast of Nablus with only 15 families, have been forced out amid escalating settler violence.
Rashid Marar, a Yanoun resident, said attacks on the village began in the 1990s and intensified in 2002, causing temporary displacement. People later returned, but he said life there “stopped again” with the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
According to Marar, settlers destroyed pastures and farms, barred residents from entering the village, vandalized sheep pens and beehives, and issued direct threats to him and others.
Israeli forces, he said, then restricted access to olive groves and imposed measures that made remaining in the village impossible.
Most villagers ultimately relocated to the nearby town of Aqraba. Marar said he was later pursued and had his livestock stolen, which forced him to leave permanently.
Amin al Hajj, an analyst specializing in Israeli affairs, said the surge in settler attacks reflects “an escalation in annexation and land seizure operations,” driven by long-standing policies, weak or absent Palestinian and international responses.
He argued that fear of arrest and harsh punitive measures in recent years has pushed many to remain silent, while there is “no real commitment” to international law on the ground.
Al Hajj said the nature of confrontations has shifted: clashes that were once less intense have become “completely unequal,” with settlers openly using live fire under the protection of the Israeli forces.
He noted that the scope of attacks has widened to include areas east of Nablus, al Mughayyir, Turmus Ayya, Beit Dajan, as well as parts of Jenin, the Jordan Valley, and the South Hebron Hills (Masafer Yatta). According to him, increasingly ideologically driven and highly organized settler groups operate through networks designed to control or depopulate specific areas by targeting livelihoods.
These groups, he said, focus on seizing grazing lands, restricting access to farmland and water, and stealing livestock. He cited figures indicating that around 12,000 sheep were stolen in 2025 and a further 1,500 since the beginning of 2026.
Al Hajj concluded that the objective of these attacks is the “gradual displacement” of Palestinians, as seen in Yanoun, and the takeover of extensive agricultural areas in the Jordan Valley and the Tammoun plains by “stripping residents of the means of life,” amid a near total absence of legal accountability for settlers, who “operate as an executing force without being held to account.”
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