Israeli settlers raid Masafer Yatta following days of increased attacks

In the Masafer Yatta communities of the West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked a village, days after settlers launched attacks on Palestinian communities. The attack reportedly caused significant property damage, and five Palestinians have been reported injured.

According to local Palestinian activists, settlers arrived accompanied by Israeli soldiers and deliberately sabotaged security cameras. Local residents were arrested, vehicles were damaged, and the gates to animal enclosures were destroyed, causing sheep to escape. This attack occurred after a major attack the previous Friday, when settlers beat Palestinians with iron bars, causing at least two serious head injuries. Israeli forces arrested 22 Palestinians but no settlers.

Allegra Pacheco of the British charity West Bank Protection Consortium stated that of the 195 communities in the West Bank that the organization assists, 38 have been "partially or completely forcibly transferred" since October. She told Middle East Eye: "We estimate that 58,000 Palestinians in [195] communities are at risk, the majority of whom are at imminent risk of forcible transfer."

The Masafer Yatta attack occurred after Palestinian director and Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal was attacked Monday night in Susya, a Palestinian village south of Hebron, in what his colleagues called a "lynch mob" by a group of Israeli settlers. Ballal, who directed the Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land" about the struggle of the people of Masafer Yatta, was later taken to a military base and released after being detained overnight. This week, 700 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the United States signed a letter criticizing the organization for failing to explicitly defend Ballal in its response to the arrest.

Last Friday, the Academy apologized to Ballal "and to all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement and want to make it clear that the Academy condemns such violence anywhere in the world." Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and their homes and farms are commonplace. These attacks are often violent, sometimes fatal, and may involve burning property and livestock, as well as physical assaults on residents. OCHA, the UN humanitarian agency, recorded at least 220 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in 2025 alone.

Former U.S. President Joe Biden sanctioned some Israeli settlers who carried out such attacks. These sanctions were later lifted by President Donald Trump. Basel Adra, a Masafer Yatta resident and one of the central figures in "No Other Land," told Middle East Eye in November that attacks on his home and other Palestinian communities were becoming increasingly common, and that the attackers were not being punished. He said: "In the past year, we have watched a live genocide in Gaza and the West Bank through our mobile phones... The facts on the ground are getting worse and worse. Israelis don't care about international pressure, international law, because unfortunately, the United States is supporting them."

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