Al-Mughayir – Khirbet Abu Falah, Ramallah District: Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian fields and crops and assaulted a journalist. Soldiers made a token attempt to remove the settlers and forced out village residents

On Tuesday, 27 May 2025, at around 7:00 A.M., dozens of residents from the villages of al-Mughayir, Abu Falah, and Turmusaya began harvesting wheat and barley in Marj Si’a, a farming area stretching between al-Mughayir and Abu Falah.

At around 10:00 A.M., some 30 to 40 settlers came down from an outpost originally established in June 2024 on a hill about 500 meters from the area, dismantled on 7 May 2025, and rebuilt a few days later. Most of the settlers were masked and armed with clubs. They began setting fire to crops in the northern part of the area, about 250–300 meters from where the farmers were working. Some young Palestinian men tried to repel the settlers and drive them away from the fields, and clashes ensued that included stone-throwing. The settlers withdrew, and Civil Defense teams, who had been in the area since morning, put out the fires. The young men then returned to the harvest.

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The settlers attacked twice more, each time with reinforcements, until their number reached 50 or 60. In each wave of attacks, the settlers set fire to more crops, splitting into groups and setting fires in several locations.

During the attacks, three soldiers were present in the outpost area. They made no attempt to prevent the attacks and only threw stun grenades and tear gas canisters from the hill toward the farmland. Only after the young men managed to repel the settlers a second time did the three soldiers descend from the outpost, joined by additional troops who arrived in two military vehicles. The soldiers tried to drive the settlers away with stun grenades, and when they failed, turned instead to dispersing the Palestinian residents, preventing them from reaching their fields to put out the fires and protect their property. Meanwhile, settlers continued setting fire to crops before the soldiers’ eyes.

Over the course of the incidents, about five masked settlers attacked ‘Issam Rimawi, a journalist who was documenting the harvest. They beat him with clubs and stones, injuring his head. Rimawi was evacuated for medical treatment. After the assault on the journalist, soldiers drove the Palestinian residents away, while settlers retreated toward the outpost, setting fire to additional fields along the way.

In the fires, some of the farmers lost harvests intended to feed their families and flocks for the entire season.

‘Abd al-Karim Na’asan, 50, a father of six from al-Mughayir said in a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Mohammad Romaneh on 29 May 2025:

Every year, I lease eight dunams [1 dunam = 0.1 hectares] of land in the Marj Si’a area, west of al-Mughayir, from residents of the village of Abu Falah. I sow wheat in the entire plot. I also raise 15 head of sheep.

On Tuesday, 27 May 2025, at around 7:00 A.M., I arrived at the field to harvest the crops I had sown the previous November. At about 10:00 A.M., around 30–40 masked settlers came down from the outpost toward the field, many of them carrying clubs. When they reached the crops in the northern part of the field, they set them on fire. Some young men who were there tried to push them back, and clashes involving stone-throwing broke out. The young men managed to drive the settlers away, and Civil Defense teams put out the fires.

But then, the settlers attacked again. This time, there were 50 or 60. The young men managed to drive them back a second time. Three soldiers who were near the outpost did not prevent the attack and only threw stun grenades and tear gas from the hill toward the fields. When the settlers tried to set fire a third time, the three soldiers came down to the field, unsuccessfully tried to drive them away with stun grenades, and then began pushing the residents out of the area. Meanwhile, two more military vehicles arrived.

The settlers took advantage of the army’s presence and the fact that the soldiers were busy pushing us out, and went back to setting crops on fire. They split into groups, starting fires in multiple locations. When we tried to approach, the three soldiers fired live shots into the air. One soldier addressed me in Arabic and said, “There’s a settler who claims you threw a stone at him – come with me so he can identify you,” and tried to drag me toward the settlers. The young men managed to pull me back and rescue me. In the meantime, the settlers continued starting fires.

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Later, the soldiers forced us all to move towards the southwest. People moved their cars, which were parked about 200–250 meters from the fields, fearing that settlers would reach and torch them. Only one car remained in the area, belonging to journalist ‘Issam Rimawi, who had come to work on a story about the harvest. Rimawi was with us, and his car was about 150 meters away. When he remembered the car, he ran toward it to move it. When he got there, five or six settlers went up to him, attacked him with stones and clubs, and knocked him to the ground. We advanced toward him to drive the settlers away. They retreated to the fields, while the soldiers threw stun grenades and tear gas at us to disperse us as well. Despite that, some of us managed to reach Rimawi and evacuate him to the medical center in Turmusaya, and from there, he was transferred to a hospital in Ramallah.

During the attack, the settlers burned all eight dunams I lease, land I’ve been cultivating for four or five years, ever since I was denied access to the farmland of Turmusaya and the fields east of al-Mughayir. These eight dunams yield five to six tons of wheat each year (50–60 sacks), enough to bake bread for my family for an entire season, and about 350–400 sacks of hay, which is enough for my sheep for the whole season. Marj Si’a is the last farming area still accessible to us. I fear we will be denied access to it as well. I’m also deeply worried about my children’s future. I fear a day will come when they won’t be able to get food, especially now with the insane rise in prices and the insecurity.

Sa’id Zhhur, 58, a father of five from Khirbet Abu Falah, said in a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Mohammad Romaneh on 29 May 2025:

n Tuesday, 27 May 2025, at around 6:30 A.M., I went out to the Marj Si’a area with three of my brothers, my five children, and two nephews. We went to the land to harvest the wheat and barley crops. We usually sow these crops in November, December, at the end of the year, and start harvesting them in mid-May of the following year, about five or six months after sowing.

I own five dunams [1 dunam = 0.1 hectares] of olive groves in the Marj Si’a area, east of the village of Abu Falah, and I also lease 60 dunams where I grow various crops such as barley, vetch, wheat, and alfalfa. Some of the land I lease belongs to people from Abu Falah, and some to people from Turmusaya.

These lands are the main source of livelihood for my family and the main source of food for my flock of 80 sheep. Because of the reduction in pastureland and the difficulty accessing it, the land we cultivate is crucial. During the attack, the settlers burned about 22 dunams of wheat and barley crops. It wasn’t the first time settlers burned the land. I estimate the damage I sustained at no less than 50,000 NIS (~14,900 USD).

We, as farmers and shepherds, wait about six months for the harvest season. But unfortunately, we lost everything we had sown and waited for all season. The entire harvest was destroyed. Usually, what I grow on this land is enough for a whole season for the household’s needs and for feeding my flock. Now we’ll have to buy food instead of relying on the crops we grew.