Israeli security forces killed two Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during a nighttime raid on Wednesday, according to local witnesses, the latest deadly episode in an area where Jewish settlers are encroaching on farmland and Palestinian homes.
The Israeli military acknowledged it fired on “instigators” among Palestinian villagers in their confrontation with settlers and security forces. It said there were “hits,” without confirming fatalities.
The village, Al Mughayir, in the Ramallah district, has long been the target of attacks and intimidation by extremist Israeli settlers who have set up outposts in the surrounding hills, largely under the protection of the Israeli military. Palestinians and human rights groups say they are intensifying their attacks in an effort to take over the land.
Violence has frequently erupted over sheep grazing rights and accusations by both settlers and villagers that the other has stolen livestock. That was the case on Wednesday, local residents and the Israeli military said, when a day of escalating tensions culminated in Israeli security forces fatally shooting two youths identified by local officials and relatives as Khalil Abu Alia, 16, and Omar al-Naasan, 19.
Settler violence in the West Bank has soared to record levels, drawing international scrutiny and condemnation. The number of attacks increased after the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel, which was led by the Palestinian armed group Hamas and ignited the war in Gaza.
Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel who is generally supportive of the Israeli settler movement, recently condemned settlers who had besieged two Palestinian families in their homes, including one that was owned by an American citizen.
Mr. Huckabee referred to those intruders as “Israeli terrorists.” He is expected to hold a town hall meeting on Saturday in Turmus Aya, another West Bank town that has been targeted by settlers.
The violence on Wednesday spiraled out of competing accusations of stealing livestock; The New York Times was unable to verify the claims of either side regarding the ownership.
Local residents of Al Mughayir and Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli anti-occupation activist, who was present in the village on Wednesday and Thursday, said that a group of settlers were grazing their sheep next to Palestinians’ homes on the edge of the village.
Wahid Marzouk Abu Naim, 40, an English teacher in a village school near the edge of Al Mughayir, said in a telephone interview that the settlers were being protected by Israeli security forces. He said the settlers accused some of the villagers of stealing 15 of their sheep, which he said was untrue.
Mr. Pollak said he watched from a rooftop as settlers “rummaged around” for about two hours, besieging houses and searching for sheep. He said he saw the settlers steal about 10 sheep belonging to Palestinians, before they left, accompanied by security forces.
Then, at around 9 p.m., more soldiers and border police officers arrived in Al Mughayir, advancing into the center of the village, searching for sheep and deploying snipers on rooftops, residents said.
Security forces entered a house adjacent to the home of Khalil Abu Alia, one of the dead youths, according to a neighbor and member of his extended family, Aisha Abu Alia.
She said that, when Mr. Abu Alia came out of his house, as other villagers approached, she saw the military open fire. “They shot Khalil in front of his house,” she added.
Mr. Pollak said that residents told him that Mr. Naasan, the second victim, was also shot outside his house, although he did not witness the killing. He said that the road in Al Mughayir was strewed with stones thrown by Palestinians trying to defend residents’ homes and livestock.
Residents said that when the forces eventually left, they took another 90 sheep with them, loaded on pickup trucks.
The military said in a statement that soldiers had entered the village in order to “facilitate the return of livestock belonging to Israeli civilians that had been found in the area of the village.”
“The livestock was identified based on distinguishing marks indicating that it belonged to Israeli civilians,” the statement added.
During the forces’ activity in the area, the military said, a violent riot broke out. Villagers hurled cinder blocks and stones at the forces and they responded by firing at “key instigators,” the military said.The military said that the events leading up to the shooting, and during it, were under review.
Elisha Yered, a spokesman for the outpost settlers, said on social media that during the past two months, residents of Al Mughayir had twice stolen sheep and goats from herds belonging to two nearby outposts.
The European Union imposed sanctions on Mr. Yered in 2024, accusing him of human rights abuses against Palestinians.
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