West Bank village lives in fear as settler attacks on children escalate near school
Six people, including three pupils, have been killed this year in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir amid a surge in settler violence, prompting the school to install barbed-wire fencing as parents fear sending children to class.
At al-Mughayyir boys school, deep in the occupied West Bank north-east of Ramallah, the new school year opened behind freshly installed barbed wire and reinforced gates. Headteacher Bassam al-Assaf says both students and parents are gripped by fear after a wave of settler-related violence.
Six people, including three pupils, have been killed in the village this year. In April, 14-year-old Aws al-Naasan was shot dead by a settler right outside the school gates. English teacher Waheed Abu Naem, whose brother Jihad was killed by an Israeli soldier in the same incident, described trying to move children to safety as bullets continued hitting the school building. The Israeli military said a reservist opened fire after stones were thrown at a car; the reservist was later suspended pending investigation.
Over the summer, two more pupils and a recent school leaver, 19, were killed by Israeli forces during incursions into the village, with the army saying it responded to rioters. Some parents hesitated to send children back to school this term, leaving empty desks in classrooms.
Growing fear and new precautions
The school compound is now ringed with barbed wire, ambulances are stationed outside, and volunteer parents stay all day for reassurance. Pupils are repeatedly instructed to stay calm and avoid soldiers or settlers if they appear nearby. Residents and an ambulance driver, Hadi al-Naasan, say Israeli forces have shifted over the past year from restraining settlers to enabling their incursions, with casualties and child injuries rising sharply as a result.
In July, nine-year-old Salim was shot and wounded on his family's sheep farm outside the village; the bullet remains in his arm. A UN Commission of Inquiry in June found settler attacks increasingly target children as part of a strategy to force Palestinians from their land, a finding Israel dismissed as a "libellous sham".
The pattern in al-Mughayyir reflects a wider trend across the West Bank, with expanding illegal outposts, greater military protection for settlers, and violence spreading into residential areas. International pressure on Israel's government is mounting, including expected UK sanctions this week, while Israel's Finance Ministry has pushed forward plans to take over land registration in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Since the start of 2025, the UN has recorded 316 Palestinians killed and over 5,600 injured, alongside 20 Israeli deaths in the same period.
