By Pesha Magid
SINJIL, West Bank, July 9 (Reuters) – On a cool June night, about fifteen Palestinians from the village of Sinjil gathered on a hilltop to scan the valley below for any signs of an impending Israeli settler attack. The men are part of a grass‑roots volunteer group that has taken it upon itself to protect the town amid a surge in settler violence that many Palestinians say the Israeli military and their own government have been unable or unwilling to stop.
“We have been left on our own. You are facing settlers backed by their government,” said Fadi Alwan, one of the volunteers. “We have nobody. So we are forced to stay here and protect this town.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far‑right government has approved hundreds of new settlements and outposts across the West Bank. Smaller outposts often serve as launching points for attacks that have displaced thousands of Palestinians. Israeli authorities say the settlements are a strategic response to thwart a Palestinian state that would use the West Bank as its core, a goal central to the long‑standing two‑state solution supported by many world powers. The majority of the international community considers all Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank illegal under international law, a stance Israel disputes.
Palestinians report that when they call Israeli police or the military for help, responders either arrive too late or side with the aggressors. The military denies this accusation. “The army protects them and doesn’t stop them. We call the army. We call the police. It’s useless,” Alwan said.
When asked for comment on Sinjil’s situation, Israel’s military said troops intervene to disperse confrontations but that civilian actions by Israelis in the West Bank fall under the jurisdiction of the Israeli police. Israeli police did not respond to requests for comment.
SEARCHLIGHTS AND WHATSAPP GROUPS TO FEND OFF ATTACKS
On June 26, as the men gathered around a fire on a Sinjil hilltop, one volunteer used a searchlight to scan the surrounding hills for settlers. Others conducted patrols on the town’s streets, all coordinated through a community WhatsApp group where residents can instantly alert each other to potential incursions. While similar groups exist elsewhere in the West Bank, the patrols in Sinjil appear unusually organized.
“If they get close to the houses, we go confront them, we send messages out on the WhatsApp groups,” Alwan said.
A short time earlier, Alwan recounted, he was beaten by a settler wielding a spiked club during a daytime attack while harvesting wheat. He lifted his shirt to show a fresh wound. He also said settlers had fired live bullets at a watch tent erected by the volunteers last year, narrowly missing the men inside, and that troops dismantled the tent the following day. Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the tent allegation.
Alwan and other residents believe most of the attackers originate from the six settler outposts perched on the hills surrounding Sinjil. The Yesha Council, which represents settlers, did not respond to requests for comment on the incidents in Sinjil or on steps local councils are taking to curb violence.
GRASSROOTS SOLUTION
Sinjil lies along the main road connecting the Palestinian urban centers of Ramallah and Nablus, with numerous settlements and outposts dotting the hills to its north. Local officials say the Israeli military has sealed off four of the village’s five entrances and erected a metal wall that cuts off access to 2,000 acres of private land, deepening the town’s isolation.
Moataz Tawafsha, head of Sinjil’s municipality, said that after the Gaza war began in October 2023, settler attacks escalated and the town was forced to find its own means of protection. “We really feel as if we are living in a collective prison,” Tawafsha said. “As a result, the municipality has taken primary responsibility for providing protection.”
Since October 2023, Tawafsha said, settler violence has killed two people and displaced more than 100 members of the Bedouin Palestinian community living on town land. An additional 20 families have been forced from their homes in the town’s core during the same period.
CALL FOR HELP
Some Sinjil residents credit the community defense effort with saving lives.
Abed Foqahaa installed metal bars over his windows and built a tall metal fence around his garden after settlers threw a Molotov cocktail through his window while his family was inside about two years ago. “The fire broke out and we couldn’t control it. We tried to save the house, but all of us suffered from the smoke,” Foqahaa said.
He used the town’s WhatsApp group to call for assistance. Young men from Sinjil, initially stopped by Israeli forces, arrived and helped carry out Foqahaa’s wheelchair‑using father. “God bless them, they really helped us,” he said.
(Reporting by Pesha Magid; Editing by Rami Ayyub and Aidan Lewis)
