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August 29, 2025
- Settlers Continue to Terrorize & Take Over South Hebron Hills Communities
- Senior Israeli Officials Appear to be Making Rounds to Illegal Outposts
- The IDF’s Collective Punishment of Al-Mughayyir Spurs Fears of West Bank Genocide
- Bonus Reads
Settlers Continue to Terrorize & Take Over South Hebron Hills Communities
Over the past week there have been several reported settler attacks on Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills, including one brutal attack on Palestinians and Israeli activists in the village of Qawawis that left seven people wounded. Masked settlers were filmed assaulting people and damaging property with huge clubs.
In addition to perpetrating unabated violence, settlers have also established several new outposts in the South Hebron Hills area, furthering their de facto annexation and the violent, coerced displacement of Palestinians.
One of the new outposts was established just meters from Palestinian homes in the village of Umm Al-Khair, the site of the recent murder of Awdah Hathaleen by the internationally sanctioned settler Yinon Levy. The new outpost has been established on the area of land Yinon Levy was illegally clearing before he shot and killed Hathaleen. Peace Now reports settlers have brought in four pre-fab mobile homes on the land and it appears settlers intend to bring in at least two more caravans there.
The new outpost threatens to bisect the lands and neighborhoods of Um Al-Khair, pinching off the northern part of the village from the southern part. Tariq Hathaleen, a resident of Um Al-Khair and the brother of Awdah, told Haaretz:
“I think these trailers have been placed there mainly to pressure the community…It’s not as if they lack land. There are millions of dunams around, but they’re coming to this spot to pressure the community and the people to leave. That’s the aim of these trailers.”
Peace Now said in a statement:
“This is the peak of the Israeli government’s mistreatment of the residents of Um al-Kheir. After decades of home demolitions, the denial of permits and infrastructure, and escalating violence from settlers and the army, comes the harsh blow of establishing a permanent outpost in the middle of the village. The settlers who erected the illegal outpost overnight did so on behalf of the authorities, with direct support from the Har Hevron Regional Council, the army, the police and the government. Since the formation of the Smotrich-Ben Gvir government, about 90 Palestinian communities have been displaced by violent settlers who established nearby outposts. The aim of the new outpost in Um al-Kheir is clear: to drive the residents from their land.”
In addition – Palestinian news sources report three new outposts were established on lands belonging to the village of Birin in the South Hebron Hills. Settlers have spent the better part of two months preparing the land for establishing an outpost, by clearing roads, destroying crops and intimidating Palestinians out of the area.
Senior Israeli Officials Appear to be Making Rounds to Illegal Outposts
Senior Israeli security officials are helping advance the mission of Smotrich’s Settlement Administration to advance the de facto annexation of the West Bank by solidifying the presence of outposts across the West Bank.i
On August 13th the commander of Israel’s West Bank police district Moshe Pinchi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, visited an illegal outpost called “Ma’aleh Tidhar” known to be associated with the violent Hilltop Youth movement. The men were photographed next to violent settler Elisha Yered – who was arrested under suspicion of murder in 2023 but released. Yered later tweeted:
“To reach Ma’aleh Tidhar, a strategic outpost established about a month and a half ago to link the eastern and central parts of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, you have to climb a rough dirt track that barely a 4×4 can manage…But the national security minister, Itamar, did it today along with MK Limor Son Har-Melech, and even brought with him the West Bank district’s officers to show his firm stand with us.”
On August 24th, two high ranking Israeli IDF officers (Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir & Central Command Commander Avi Bluth) visited the illegal outpost called Maoz Shaul, located near the Avnei Hefetz settlement in the northern West Bank. It appears the visit was not meant to catch press attention, but nonetheless indicates the IDF’s knowledge of the new and illegal outpost, and its support for its continued presence in the area.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also is a Minister in the Defense Ministry, celebrated the occasion saying in a tweet that the visit shows the IDF’s ““excellent cooperation” with his work to legalize outpost, and that “The farms lead the way in pioneering settlement in Judea and Samaria, acting as a vital shield for many communities there, as well as for the Sharon region [on the coastal plain] and other parts of the country.”
The IDF’s Collective Punishment of Al-Mughayyir Spurs Fears of West Bank Genocide
The Israeli army uprooted over 10,000 olive trees during a three day siege on the Palestinian village of Al-Mughayyir northeast of Ramllah, in what is a forthright declaration of collective punishment of the entire village following an alleged terror attack near the Adei Ad settlement. During the IDF’s siege on the village, +972 Magazine reports residents lived under curfew while every home in the village was raided, businesses were closed and the village was sealed shut. The IDF caused significant destruction to the village streets, infrastructure, homes, and businesses.
IDF Central Command head Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth made it clear that Israel’s policy is that of collective punishment, saying at a press briefing:
“Every village and every enemy must know that if they carry out an attack against the residents [settlers], they will pay a heavy price…They will experience a curfew, they will experience a siege, and they will experience shaping operations…We are now getting a grip on this village…The first mission is to hunt [the assailant] … The second is to carry out shaping operations here, and to ensure that everyone is deterred — not only this village, but every village that tries to raise a hand against the residents [settlers].”
Following Bluth’s remarks, +972 Magazine reports Yesh Din and ACRI (two Israeli human rights groups) have filed a criminal complaint with the Military Advocate General, calling for an investigation into war crimes.
Kareem Jubran, director of the field research department of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, told Haaretz:
“Our greatest fear – and we emphasized this when we [B’Tselem] presented our genocide report – is that every small incident will now immediately cause an insane Israeli response. We saw that last week in al-Mughayyir. Every trigger can produce genocide in the West Bank, too. What happened here is the proof of that.”.
Deputy Council Head of the village, Abu Na’im, told Haaretz:
“That is their goal, for us to leave. It is perhaps a different tactic from Gaza, but the goal is the same.”
Bonus Reads
- “West Bank Monthly Snapshot – Casualties, Property Damage and Displacement | July 2025” (OCHA, 8/22/25)
- “Chairman Lawler Introduces Bill to Repeal Inactive Restrictions on Building U.S. Facilities in Israel” (Press Release, 815/25)
- “Fears Israeli forces turning Sebastia into garrison to ‘Judaize’ site” (The New Arab, 8/27/25)
- “’Neglect and Apathy’ | Israel’s UNRWA Closures Leave Hundreds of Palestinian Students in East Jerusalem Without Schools as Summer Ends” (Haaretz, 8/28/25)
- “As World Leaders Push for a Palestinian State, in the West Bank, ‘Annexation Is Reality’” (Haaretz, 8/27/25)
- “Will Israel’s West Bank Settlement Plan Ignite the Third Intifada?” (Haaretz, 8/25/2025)
- “Tiny Patch of West Bank Land Fuels Dreams of Greater Israel” (New York Times, 8/25/2025)
- “How Israel Is Funding Settler Violence To Overrun Palestinian Villages in the West Bank” (New Lines Magazine, 8/27/2025)