In an act of collective punishment Israeli Occupation Forces have uprooted over 10,000 Palestinian olive trees in the West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir.
What you are about to hear is a horrifying tale of terrorism, which has thus far been silenced by Israel through threats of violence.
I spoke to a Palestinian from Al-Mughayyir who contacted me pleading that his community is suffering in silence and the world must know what’s happening. They are unable to speak up alone due to threats of intense violence. They explained to me that the village creates group chats to share footage of these crimes and attacks but the IDF submits takedown requests to WhatsApp who constantly shuts them down.
The IDF is informed by WhatsApp who exactly is in charge of the group chat, and proceed to arrest them. If they don’t jail the whistleblower, they bring them near the settlements to allow them to get beat up by settlers and force them to walk back on foot. Meta and WhatsApp are complicit in providing the IOF with the identities of Palestinians which allows them to conduct their terrorism.
On August 21, 2025, an estimated 1500 Israeli soldiers and settlers raided Al Mughayyir after one settler made a false accusation of being attacked on land he had recently took from a Palestinian living in the village. The false accusations is part of the settlers strategy that enables them to carry out attacks seeking to expel and cleanse Palestinians from their lands. ISM reported “Online groups of settlers disseminated an incitement leaflet featuring a bulldozer, claiming their intention to demolish the village of Al-Mughayyir over the heads of its residents.” This is that leaflet which reads.
The army closed all checkpoints and roads, cutting off the village from the outside and ransacked every single house. Tear gas was deployed in the streets, the journalists were kicked out by the army so they couldn’t report. Soldiers searched every house in the village and stole money, gold, and other valuables while making arrests and beating people. Residents were informed that the village would remain besieged for at least three days until the perpetrator is arrested. It turns out they were unable to leave their homes for 4 days while they ran out of food. The IOF arrested the mayor as well. The army has now set up a checkpoint and blocked off all exits but one from the village.
They brought in a dozen D9 bulldozers and used them to uproot entire groves of olive trees which farmers and families depend on for economic stability. Thousands and thousand of trees were destroyed. Over 10,000 and counting. Israel has a long history of uprooting olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers, they’ve uprooted nearly 1 million over the decades. You can think of it as the Palestinian equivalent of Americans shooting at the American Bison in their pursuit to kill all of the Native Americans. The bison almost went extinct. They were targeted because the natives depended on them.
In the IOF’s own words, this Lieutenant admits it’s punishment against the entire village and justified the destruction by saying the trees are a security threat. [video]
The people of Al Mughayyir are unable to tell the world the truth about what is being done to them. IOF soldiers search their phones for footage of the army or settlers. If they find footage they break the phones and beat the Palestinian who recorded it. Settlers are armed with guns and backed by Israel’s soldiers, these people have nothing to fight back with but stones.
CTA:
The people of Mughayyir are asking you to do one simple thing, SPEAK UP and USE YOUR VOICE to raise awareness about the settler terrorism they are suffering from. They cannot speak up themselves as they will be punished, hurt, or worse.
6 D9 model bulldozers are currently clearing the land for the construction of more settler-only roads on the village’s land. Yes, Israel builds segregated roads criss-crossing the West Bank as they expand their illegal settlements. It’s one of the stark reminders of their apartheid system over the West Bank, a system that Desmond Tutu- Nobel peace prize winner who fought apartheid in South Africa said is worse than what he faced.
Residents fear these roads are a sign of the new E1 settlement, which Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich- has set into motion to accomplish what he says will “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”. Smotrich dictates Israel’s West Bank settlement program and wields much power over the occupied territory. If completed, the West Bank would be effectively cut into two, aligning Smotrich’s proclamation last November that 2025 was the year they were going to fully annex the West Bank. Of course he means they seek to ethnically cleanse it of Palestinians because the territory is practically annexed and under Israel’s complete control. Israel is indeed moving forward with settlement construction on the E1 campaign.
Israel has reportedly just issued demolition orders on 6 houses in the village. Israel uses demolition orders to erase Palestinian civilization in the West Bank on land that they want to steal. By 2022, Israel had demolished over 55,000 Palestinian homes in total.
The settlers think killing Palestinian trees and terrorizing their communities will also kill the idea of a Palestinian State, by forcing them off of their land.
I’m told “They teach them that we’re trying to kill them and take their land in schools. When they grow up they come to our villages and burn our houses, cars, trees”.
“They came today and a 7 days old child had to go to the hospital because of the teach gas they shot”
From January to June this year, the UN found that 149 Palestinians were killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in the occupied West Bank. Nine Israelis were killed by Palestinians.
4 days prior to the recent occupation of al Mughayyir, IOF soldiers lynched 18-year-old Hamdan Abu Aliya playing armed backup for a dozen or so Zionist settlers that came to the village to instigate a conflict. BBC’s Lucy Williamson was present that day, interviewing Palestinian farmers on the settler’s slashing and burning their trees. She recounts how they began an extensive series of clashes that lasted hours. Despite Israel being responsible for security of the region due to their decades-long occupation of the territory, IOF soldiers are not equal protectors, they are there to protect their settlers while they launch attacks. My source tells me that on that day, August 17, 2025, the village had a protest because the settlers kept attacking the farmers which triggered both settlers and IOF soldiers to come to the village.
The soldiers told residents they were “investigating what the settlers did” and while they were in the village they shot a Red Cross volunteer, Hamdan Abualia- who was only 18 years-old. They shot him in the back, which gave him internal bleeding. They didn’t leave the village until they made sure he was dead. This is footage from [his funeral]. It was a hero’s welcome.
My source explains “We can’t interview any of the people in the village because the IDF will arrest him and the settler will post people’s pictures in group” Four days later, the settlers would come to put the village under siege and target the father of Hamdam Abu Aliya, who was the farmer who interviewed with the BBC.
The terrorism that’s being inflicted on their community by Zionists settlers and IOF soliders- has been ongoing for decades. It’s systemic, not isolated incidents. And this village is one of a sea of villages that face similar threats. They tell me the looming presence of the settlements built on their land puts their community in danger, whenever they go outside. I was told that there is a family living in a tent that settlers are attacking trying to drive them out right at this moment. One time, the IOF came to the village and found a small Palestine flag near his cousin’s house and “they made him say Palestine doesn’t exist and they burned the flag in his mouth”.
Since 1967, settlers have invaded land, torched communities, slaughtered livestock, and destroyed Palestinian olive groves. All accomplished with the full IDF backing.
In 2002, settler terrorism escalated after Israel erected barbed wire fences around the village and constructed an illegal settlement and a military base next door
In 2017 the rate of violence against al Mughayyir increased to daily attacks.
On January 25, 2019- the settlers carried out a massacre in Al Mughayyir. Hamdi Nasan was killed by live ammunition, 30 were wounded, 6 others by bullet. Some were sniping people off from a distance and others were firing indiscriminately up close. By the time soldiers arrived, he was dead- and then the IOF shot tear gas at the village in support of the settlers who had resorted to throwing rocks at the terrorists.
I was told that they were there that night and witness a settler holding 2 m16s, one in each hand, spraying wildly onto people and houses.
In April 2024, 1500 settlers dressed in black uniforms armed with M16s attacked Al Mughayyir midday. That’s a little more than half of the village’s total population. Around 500 entered the village and wounded 25 people, 8 by gunfire according to the Health Ministry.
This was part of a larger settler rampage in which 11 Palestinian villages were attacked by thousands of settlers. Four Palestinians were shot dead and thousands of locals' animals were killed, while a dozen homes and over 100 cars were burned.
It’s so violent it’s unbelievable. I had to pick and choose which incidents to cover in more detail and what not to because there are so many and the more you hear the worse it gets. The village of Al-Mughayyir needs international attention and protection from the violent campaign of settler terrorism seeking to drive them out of their communities.
On top of the threats and punitive actions made by the IOF against those who speak out, there is a lack of coverage on this issue. This village is a microcosm of the settler terrorism that plagues every community in the West Bank. We should do all we can to lend our voices to our brothers and sisters who are suffering. I was informed that over 70 residents are currently imprisoned, 20 without charges, 10 under the age of 16.
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