Palestinians in Al‑Mughayyir Fear for Children’s Safety as Settler Incursions Rise

Haroon Bishara, whose sons attend first and second grade, said he stands guard because it reassures the children that their parents are with them and that they are safe, giving them a sense of security.

This year, he added, his worries for the children have intensified, as the school environment is clearly unsafe.

Yet his fear is tempered by a resolve not to be forced from their homes by the threat of settler attacks.

During the morning assembly, students lined up in the playground where teachers repeatedly drilled safety instructions: if soldiers or settlers approach the school, do not shout, do not approach them, and do not react.

Within an hour of the start of classes, settlers were seen through the school windows: two men driving sheep through fields about two hundred metres away, with Israeli soldiers nearby.

Minutes later, another settler appeared, leading a flock of sheep.

Abu Naem noted, “They have moved closer to the village since April. Their sheep used to graze behind the hill, but now the soldiers bring the settlers up to the village.”

The Israeli army was contacted for comment on the allegations in this report but did not provide a response prior to publication.

All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, and many of the informal settler outposts that have proliferated around al‑Mughayyir are also illegal under Israeli law.

However, an ambulance crew stationed outside the school reported that Israeli soldiers are not dismantling illegal settlements but are instead supporting and enabling settler incursions into the village.

Hadi al‑Naasan, an ambulance driver in the village, said Israeli forces’ behaviour has shifted over the past year, and the increase in Palestinian deaths and injuries in al‑Mughayyir this year reflects that change.

He added, “At the start of 2025, settler attacks were rare because of army interventions. In 2026, everything changed: settlers became fully protected by the occupation forces. This year, we have seen more martyrs, far more injuries, and a higher number of child injuries.”

Hadi and other al‑Mughayyir residents believe that some Israeli settlers are deliberately targeting children to pressure adults to abandon their homes.

A UN Commission of Inquiry released in June concluded that settler attacks have instrumentalized children as part of a broader coercive strategy aimed at driving Palestinians from their land.

The report described a pattern of settlers intentionally targeting Palestinian children while they were playing near homes, walking to and from school, working on farms, or herding livestock, thereby turning everyday spaces into sites of fear.

Israel dismissed the report as a “libellous sham.”

Sheep farmer Sami Abu Rahma is convinced that some violent settlers are targeting children.

At the end of July, his nine‑year‑old son Salim was shot and wounded while playing with his siblings on the family’s sheep farm outside al‑Mughayyir. The bullet remains in his arm.

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