Illegal settlers extend Israeli war crimes to occupied West Bank

Palestinians from the village of Al Mughayyir in the central occupied West Bank witnessed a night of terror due to the unprecedented attacks carried out by illegal Israeli settlers under the protection of Israel's army as if they were an extension of the crimes taking place in Gaza.

Residents of the village, located on the eastern slopes of the West Bank, appear to be in a state of shock.

At least one Palestinian was killed and dozens were injured, while many vehicles and homes were burned down during the illegal Jewish settlers' attack.

The Israeli army has imposed a siege on the Al Mughayyir village with military checkpoints since earlier Saturday.

At the main entrance to the town connecting with the village of Abu Falah, the frames of 11 vehicles were piled up and completely burned.

Night of terror

“We lived through a terrifying and disastrous night as a result of settler attacks under the protection of the Israeli army,” said Kazem al Haj Muhammad, a settlement resistance activist in Al Mughayyir.

He told Anadolu that “more than 15 vehicles were burned in the village, several houses were partially burned, and barracks for raising sheep were burned and destroyed as well.”

Muhammad pointed out that the attacks resulted in the death of one Palestinian and the injury of more than 40 others.

He stressed that the illegal settlers are implementing the Israeli government’s agenda based on expelling residents and seizing lands.

He pointed to residential settlement outposts and other pastoral outposts, saying: “They control everything, preventing residents from reaching their lands, and preventing shepherds from grazing their livestock.”

A Palestinian, Osama Jabr Abu Alia, told Anadolu that "about 1,500 settlers, most of them carrying weapons, attacked the residents. What can we do?"

“We are no better than our people in Gaza,” he said, adding that “our homes were burned and nothing remained of our vehicles.”

“Three of my brothers were injured by bullets, and four of my sons were also injured and taken for treatment,” he added.

“What happened is unimaginable. They targeted houses, people, trees, and even animals, some of which were executed,” Alia said.

He also said the settlers confiscated 50 heads of sheep belonging to his cousins.

“We barely got the family out, otherwise they would have been killed,” added Alia.

Tamer Abu Alia, another resident of the village, told Anadolu: “We are grateful that our families are okay.”

He noted that the illegal settlers burned two vehicles he owned, and parts of his house.

State of alert

In a press statement, the Palestinian National and Islamic Forces of Ramallah and Al Bireh Governorate called for maintaining "a state of alert, and constant and continuous vigilance, to thwart the malicious plans" aimed at uprooting the Palestinians from their land.

It also called for "thwarting the colonizers' attempts to terrorize Palestinian villages and towns with the ugliest forms of terrorism and brutality" in addition to "taking the necessary measures and procedures to provide villages and towns with the elements for survival and steadfastness, and taking immediate action to stop these crimes and aggressive actions against the Palestinian people."

The town of Al Mughayyir, east of Ramallah in the central West Bank, has been through bloody hours after hundreds of settlers attacked it on Saturday night.

Tensions have been high across the occupied territory amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza, which left nearly 33,800 people dead since a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7.

At least 468 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank since then, according to Palestine's Health Ministry.