Israeli settlers raid, set fire to Bedouin community in West Bank

CCTV footage of the Israeli settler raid in Mukhmas, central West Bank, 17 January 2026

Matan Golan and Jack Khoury report in Haaretz on 18 January 2026:

Israeli settlers raided a Bedouin community near the Palestinian village of Mukhmas in the central West Bank on Saturday, setting fire to vehicles and buildings.

“There was arson, there are casualties and some are missing,” a local resident told Haaretz.

The Red Crescent said that they have so far treated two people wounded in the attack. A security source said four Palestinians were wounded in the attack.  A human rights activist told Haaretz that he was assaulted by the Israeli settlers. “The settlers, about twenty of them, arrived while some of us were sleeping,” he said. “They beat us with clubs and stones, inside the houses and then outside, and set the houses on fire and chased us around.”

“They beat me with clubs – hit my legs, head, groin – for several minutes. They beat us so hard,” he said. “Everything is gone. Everything burned down, even our passports that were inside. Everything is on fire.”

The IDF, Border Police and Israel Police later said in a statement that forces were deployed to Mukhmas following a report that several Israeli citizens set fire to tents and vehicles, and that the suspects fled from an Israeli vehicle found on the scene during a search, and clubs were found inside it. The vehicle was seized by police, according to the statement, which added that IDF forces are searching for the suspects involved.

Several Palestinians, foreign nationals and Israelis at the scene were wounded, and were evacuated to receive medical treatment, according to the statement.

In the last similar attack on the community in October, over 20 masked settlers attacked Palestinians and activists in the community of Mukhmas, with some even shooting towards them.

Earlier Saturday, Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinians and human rights activists in Ras Ein al-Auja in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley and vandalized the property of local Palestinian residents.

The settlers also raided residents’ houses, the activist encampment and other private property. Last week, a senior IDF officer told the residents of Ras Ein al-Auja that he would designate a group of Israeli soldiers to protect the community.

Activists said they have reported at least six Israeli settler raids on the community since the beginning of the week to Israel Police.

Also on Saturday, a Palestinian woman and a human rights activist were detained near the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, after their vehicle was blocked by an Israeli settler who called security forces to the scene.

According to reports, a closed military zone order was issued for the area after the forces arrived.

Village residents face ongoing harassment from settlers in nearby illegal outposts, who frequently graze livestock close to their homes.

Earlier Saturday, fourteen-year-old Mohammad Saad Sami Naasan, who was killed on Friday by IDF fire in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, was laid to rest.

According to video footage, Israeli settlers blocked the access road to the village along which the funeral procession was meant to pass, and later withdrew.

The IDF said that dozens of Palestinians hurled stones at the forces on Friday, and that one of them, later identified as Sami Naasan, ran toward the troops holding a rock and was shot.

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