Palestinian farmer killed by illegal settlers on his own land as father watches

The story of the Faraj family has become a hauntingly familiar tragedy in the occupied West Bank.

For the third time in a month, a Palestinian farmer has been killed on his own land, in front of his father, by an armed illegal settler.

This week, the victim was Mohammed Faraj, 39, a civil engineer and father of five with a sixth child on the way.

According to a report by Haaretz, Mohammed was shot through the head on Wednesday while standing on his family's 9.7-hectare (24-acre) estate near the settlement of Tekoa, south of Jerusalem.

His father, 75-year-old Ahmed Faraj, witnessed the killing after being wounded himself.

The Faraj family has held private ownership of this land, listed in the Israel Land Registry, for generations.

However, over the past year, settler youths have begun encroaching on the property.

The father recalls a confrontation with a settler leader named Yehuda, who claimed the land belonged only to Jews.

"Abraham gave the land only to the Jews," Yehuda reportedly told him.

"I am the law, and I am also above the law."

The day of the killing

The fatal encounter followed a series of incursions.

This incident marks the third such case in a month.

In mid-March, Mohammed Shnaran saw two of his sons shot in front of him in the South Hebron Hills.

One was killed, the other seriously wounded.

Two weeks later, another Palestinian, Amir Odeh, 28, was killed in front of his father while working on farmland near the village of Qusra.

Each case follows a similar pattern: armed settlers confront Palestinian farmers, violence escalates, and fatal shootings follow.

On the morning of the attack, Ahmed arrived at his field to find illegal settlers had breached his fence with a tractor and erected a large black tent.

Despite Ahmed's appeals to the authorities, the situation spiralled out of control.

Three military jeeps arrived briefly, but Ahmed claims the soldiers and settlers "started hugging one another" before the troops departed, leaving the family unprotected.

"Why did the army leave?" Ahmed asks furiously.

"Why did they leave us near people with weapons? The army is to blame for what happened."

Shortly after the soldiers left, the settlers began rebuilding their tent.

When Ahmed and his relatives approached the fence, the shooting started.

Ahmed felt an object graze his head, a bullet that missed his brain by millimetres, leaving him with six stitches.

He then looked back to see his son, Mohammed, lying on his back with blood streaming from his face.

A single bullet had struck him in the forehead.

Aftermath and ongoing Israeli violence

The Israeli army has stated that its forces were deployed to disperse a confrontation but left once they believed the area was clear.

The military handed the investigation over to the Israel Police.

Following the killing, the police have imposed strict restrictions on Mohammed's funeral in the Sharafat neighbourhood, banning signs and shouting.

When a single commemorative poster was displayed, the police reportedly threatened to shut down the service within five minutes unless it was removed.

While the family mourns, the cycle of encroachment continues.

A new tent has already been erected on the Faraj land.

Though authorities have dismantled it several times, the settlers continue to return, re-establishing their presence on the blood-stained soil.

For Ahmed Faraj, the loss is personal and irreversible.

"Last week I lost my beloved son," he said quietly.