Ramallah, West Bank / PNN/
Israeli settlers, backed by Israeli forces, carried out a series of attacks across several Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank over the weekend, injuring residents, torching homes and vehicles, and forcing the closure of schools, Palestinian officials and medics said.
In the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, Israeli forces have maintained a wide-scale raid since Saturday afternoon, according to the deputy head of the village council, Marzouq Abu Naim. He said soldiers broke up a condolence gathering for 14-year-old Mohammed al-Nassan, who was killed by Israeli fire two days earlier, raided several homes and seized a house belonging to Hamza Abu Alia, expelling his family in harsh winter conditions and turning the building into a military post.
Abu Naim said soldiers also assaulted a child with special needs, Nader Abu Alia, beating him and attempting to force him to walk despite his disability. The ongoing raid has led to the suspension of school classes in the village, he added.
Elsewhere, at least two Palestinians were injured late Saturday when Israeli settlers attacked the Bedouin community of Khallet al-Sidra, near the town of Mikhmas northeast of Jerusalem. Local residents said settlers opened fire, assaulted civilians and set several homes and vehicles ablaze. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews treated two people wounded in the attack.
In a separate incident south of Nablus, settlers from the nearby Rahalim settlement attacked homes on the outskirts of the village of Yatma, spraying residents with pepper spray and injuring several people, including a father and his son, according to local sources. Israeli forces arrived during the assault and provided protection to the settlers, residents said.
Palestinian officials say the attacks form part of a broader pattern of settler violence aimed at intimidating communities and pushing them off their land, particularly in areas close to settlements and outposts.
According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israeli forces and settlers carried out 23,827 attacks against Palestinians and their property across the West Bank in 2025. The commission said Israeli forces were responsible for 18,384 incidents, settlers for 4,723, and joint attacks accounted for 720.
Human rights groups say settler violence — often involving arson, stone-throwing, armed assaults and the destruction of homes, farmland and vehicles — has increased sharply in recent years and frequently occurs in the presence or with the protection of Israeli forces. They say the attacks are used to restrict Palestinians’ access to land and to force families out of strategically sensitive areas.
