Even Palestinians Were Stunned: The Israeli Army-settler Alliance Reaches a New Level
It seemed that everything has already been said and written about the unbelievable role the Israel Defense Forces plays in settler pogroms in the West Bank. But this week we learned of an incident that may surpass them all.
A settler reports that 12 of his goats have been stolen by residents of the nearby village of Al-Mughayyir. The army drops everything, descends upon the village and demands that the local council head arrange for the immediate return of the flock. It is past midnight. When the council head provides evidence that the goats belong to a local resident, the matter appears to be settled.
But the following evening, a large IDF force arrives and steals 11 sheep from a Bedouin shepherd. Hours later, the troops return and steal dozens of sheep and goats from other pens. They then proceed to the middle of town where snipers take up positions on rooftops and open fire at teenagers who come out into the streets. Two of them are killed.
To reach Al-Mughayyir, in the central part of the West Bank, we take what Mohammad Romaneh, a field researcher for the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, calls "the road of death." Traveling along it is indeed dangerous. The road passes the "American" town of Turmus Ayya – where some 80 to 90 percent of residents have U.S. citizenship, and where Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited last Saturday – and it is the only way to access Al-Mughayyir at present. For about a month, a new rogue outpost erected by settlers has loomed over the road and they have been attacking passing cars. According to the Palestinians, seven vehicles have already been damaged and settlers also stole one, a Mercedes belonging to a Nablus resident, after its occupants were forced to flee. One of the passengers was a U.S. citizen.
In his shabby office, Al-Mughayyir council head Amin Abu Aaliya tells us what happened last Wednesday. Even this long-suffering village, which has lost 13 residents and thousands of acres of land since October 7, had never experienced anything like it.
We visited in April and documented the theft of 170 sheep by settlers and the killing of a 12-year-old boy and a 32-year-old man by a settler in army uniform. Yet Abu Aaliya reports that things have escalated: Recently, soldiers and police officers have been accompanying settlers while they steal livestock from villagers. Last week's events is a case in point.
Before midnight on Tuesday, September 1, Abu Aaliya received a call from a Civil Administration officer. A settler, the officer told him, claimed that a villager had stolen 12 of his goats. The council head was skeptical from the start. Local residents do not dare approach what are now referred to as farms – really settler outposts – in the area and in any case stealing livestock from a pasture, as was claimed, is no simple feat. Even with 20 jeeps, he says, villagers could not have done it.
He asked to see photographs the settler had of the goats that had allegedly been stolen, and then woke up the owner of the animals in question. The owner showed him photos of the very same black goats – from the previous spring. They had white spots on their ears, Abu Aaliya explains, assuming the role of forensic investigator. The day before, it emerged, settlers had come to Al-Mughayyir, taken pictures of the same goats and claimed they were theirs.
"You've already had quite a few wounded [people]. You'd better return the livestock," the officer warned the council head. "We're already at the entrance to your village."
That same night, the council head sent the photos he'd received of the spotted goats to the Civil Administration. The official he spoke to replied, "Inshallah khair (It'll be all right)." Abu Aaliya was convinced the matter was over.
On Wednesday evening, however, villagers were caught by surprise when a large, mixed force comprised of soldiers, police officers and settlers arrived. First they attacked a Bedouin family on the outskirts of town and stole 11 of their sheep, reappearing a few hours later in the center of town. They cleared people off the streets with tear gas and stun grenades, then set about stealing livestock from several pens in the vicinity – 48 sheep and 12 goats.
Soldiers protected the settlers as they forced the animals out and drove them toward the outpost on the hill.
The owners of the animals raised the alarm on social media: They're stealing our livestock! Distraught residents, among them young people, poured into the streets. Meanwhile, according to eyewitnesses, snipers climbed onto the roof of an unfinished building and began firing live rounds. Khalil Shehadeh, 17, was the first to be killed. A few minutes later, his neighbor, Omar al-Naasan, 19, was shot to death.
According to witnesses, both were shot by the same sniper on the same roof, from a distance of a few dozen meters. Khalil died on the spot. Omar died in the ambulance rushing him to hospital. Paramedic Mujahid Abu Alia told us this week that he had carried Omar to the ambulance but it was too late: The young man, who we were told was hoping to study at Birzeit University this year, had been shot in the back.
By 9:30 P.M. Wednesday, two hours after it began, Operation Sheep Theft – so named by the army – was over. The forces withdrew, leaving two bodies behind and taking dozens of sheep (and some goats) with them.
Council head Abu Aaliya: "I feel sorry for the settlers. Their children should be in school and university. Instead, they're stealing and killing. When they grow up, they'll turn their violence against you, in Israel. The mafias and crime families will exploit them, because violence is all they know. It's strange that Israel, with all its power, doesn't understand this and does nothing."
The council head also has something to say about Ambassador Huckabee's visit to neighboring Turmus Ayya: "He said there's just a handful of violent settlers? He's not one of us. The Americans he visited in Turmus Ayya are different from the Americans in the [Jewish] settlement of Shiloh. Apparently, an American from Shiloh has the right to steal land from an American in Turmus Ayya, and to attack his home too."
We went out into the street, to where the two teenagers' lives were cut short. The snipers reportedly fired in both directions. One victim collapsed and died to the right of the building they were on, one to the left. An even split. Residents have planted a sapling at each spot where they fell, in their memory.
In a gray cap and gray shirt, Khalil's bereaved father, Ghasem, 38, sits in the well-kept guest room of his home the day we visit, overcome by grief. He is a laborer, a farmer and the father of four sons, including Khalil, the eldest; he was about to enter 11th grade.
The evening before his son was killed, Ghasem was at home with him when he heard their neighbor, Abu Nabil, crying out for help. Soldiers and settlers had invaded his sheep pen and had begun driving them out. Ghasem and Khalil rushed out to try to protect Abu Nabil and his flock. About two minutes later, he recalls, the streetlights went out and gunfire rained down upon them. Khalil fell before his eyes. His father hurriedly carried him to a private car to be evacuated but already knew Khalil was dead.
No response was received from the IDF Spokesperson's Office by press time.