Residents of the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, recount a night of terror, marked by unprecedented attacks carried out by Israeli colonist militias under the protection of the Israeli army, reminiscent of the atrocities unfolding in Gaza.
The inhabitants of this village, situated on the eastern foothills of the West Bank, appear shell-shocked. They endured a night where young Jihad Afif Abu Alia, 25, was killed, and dozens were injured while homes and vehicles were set ablaze.
Since dawn on Saturday, Israeli occupation forces imposed a siege on the village with military checkpoints.
At the main entrance connecting Al-Mughayyir to the nearby village of Abu Falah, the charred remains of 11 vehicles torched by settlers litter the road.
The situation is no better in the eastern neighborhoods of the village, where vehicles and homes were partially burnt. At dawn, residents ventured out to assess the damage to their properties, finding some vehicles partially damaged.
Kazem Al-Hajj Muhammad, an anti-colonialism activist in Al-Mughayyir, recounts the harrowing events: “We endured a horrific and catastrophic night, facing colonist attacks under the protection of the Israeli army.”
“Over 15 vehicles were torched, homes partially burnt, and sheep pens destroyed by colonists, with the full backing of Israeli forces,” he tells Anadolu Agency.
Al-Hajj Muhammad emphasizes that colonists are executing the Israeli government’s agenda of displacing Palestinians and seizing their lands. “They control everything, preventing citizens from accessing their lands and shepherds from grazing their livestock.”
Life in the village, he says, is perilous and fraught with complexity.
Meanwhile, Osama Jabr Abu Alia inspects his home and those of his brothers in the town, remarking, “Nearly 1500 armed colonists attacked us. What can we do?”
He adds, “We’re no better than our brethren in Gaza; our homes and vehicles were destroyed, and three of my brothers were shot, along with four of our children who were hospitalized.”
“What happened is beyond imagination; everything is targeted, from humans to rocks and trees, even animals, some of which were slaughtered,” Abu Alia remarks.
He reveals that colonists seized 50 sheep belonging to his cousins.
Abu Aliaa inspects the burnt homes, noting, “We barely managed to evacuate our family, or else we would have lost them.”
In the village, Tamer Abu Alia surveys his home and two vehicles, remarking, “Thank God, wealth can be replaced, but the safety of the family is paramount.”
He points out that colonists burnt two of his vehicles and parts of his home, while he rescued his family and a herd of sheep from the colonists’ gunfire.
On Saturday evening, colonists renewed their attack on the village, injuring six civilians with live ammunition, one critically. They set ablaze a home in the village belonging to Khamees Abu Alia and torched a fire truck heading to extinguish the flames.
Additionally, they fired upon the funeral procession of the martyr Jihad Afif Abu Alia.
Simultaneously, with Israel’s ongoing and intensified onslaught on Gaza, Israeli occupation forces and colonist militias have been taking turns attacking defenseless Palestinian villages and communities in the West Bank, killing 463 Palestinians, injuring 4,750 and arresting 8,215 others since October 7, 2023.
Despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and its unprecedented appearance before the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide, the Israeli onslaught persists.
The aggression on the Gaza Strip has left over 100,000 Palestinians killed and wounded, mostly children and women, alongside immense destruction and famine, claiming the lives of many innocents.
Source: WAFA
