Entry, clashes, fire: Israeli occupier violence in West Bank village shows familiar pattern

A familiar pattern of occupier incursions under Israeli army protection, followed by fighting and soldiers opening fire on Palestinians is occurring with increasing frequency in the occupied West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday, Anadolu reports.

Three incidents occurred in the past week, with Israeli soldiers shooting at least seven Palestinians, killing two, while others were physically assaulted during incursions into the village.

The attacks come amid escalating occupier violence across the West Bank, which US Ambassador Mike Huckabee described in August as “terrorism,” saying those responsible were damaging Israel’s image.

The attacks follow a similar sequence: occupiers approach homes on the village’s western outskirts with their flocks in the presence of soldiers before reporting that sheep have been lost, stolen or poisoned.

The occupiers then move between Palestinian homes, under the protection of Israeli security forces, leading to confrontations with residents that ultimately end with Israeli troops firing at Palestinians.

“The pattern is not new, but, as this week has shown, it is becoming increasingly frequent,” the report said.

For several months, Israeli soldiers have blocked the village’s only western entrance for hours each day. “In practice, settlers enter the village’s lands in full view of the military and provoke confrontations with residents, while Israeli troops turn their weapons on the villagers.”

Residents reported that in several incidents that occupiers stole equipment and livestock from pens on the outskirts of Al-Mughayyir while Israeli troops moved deeper into the village.

Two Palestinian teens from the village were shot dead Wednesday by Israeli soldiers after occupiers entered the area with a flock of sheep. One was shot in the neck and the other in the back, according to the report.

Footage showed occupiers grazing sheep among homes on the village outskirts and approaching houses in the presence of Israeli army and Border Police forces, which did not intervene to remove them.

In one video, Border Police officers were seen searching a Palestinian woman in the yard of her home as young occupiers shouted in Arabic: “Oskot!” — meaning “Shut up!” or “Be quiet!”

The officers then escorted the woman into her home. Residents said occupiers stole 100 head of livestock during the incident.

Occupiers initially claimed on social media that livestock had been poisoned “in the grazing areas” of a “farm.” They later claimed livestock had been stolen from two illegal outposts — Havat Metzudat David and Givat Or Nahman — prompting soldiers to search for the herd.

UN experts have warned of escalating “settler terrorism” with the support and complicity of Israeli authorities, saying it posed an existential threat to the ability of Palestinian communities to remain on their land. They recorded 13 Palestinians killed and 500 injured during the first five months of 2026.

Around 780,000 Israeli occupiers live in 192 illegal settlements and 400 outposts in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to recent figures released by The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.

The UN considers Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal under international law and has repeatedly urged Israel to halt settlement activity.