“While unusual in scale and severity, this assault on Masafer Yatta is not unique. Even on the night preceding the attack, settlers raided Wadi Al-Rakhim, cutting down approximately 500 olive trees belonging to the Rumi family and spray-painting slogans describing the act as “revenge” for Karm Susya — a settler vineyard planted on land belonging to the Nawajah family. After years of legal proceedings, a court ruling had ordered the vineyard’s removal on the grounds that it had been established illegally.
The role of Israeli soldiers in Tuesday night’s highly coordinated assault was unmistakable. Throughout the evening, they established flying checkpoints, prevented residents from reaching the villages, blocked ambulances, and allowed settlers to carry out attacks and large-scale theft without interference — while arresting Palestinian victims without cause. In at least one instance, soldiers themselves took part in the beatings.”
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An activist helps extinguish a fire set during a settler acct in Al-Tuban, Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank, January 27, 2026. | Photo: Roni Amir / +972 Magazine