Besieged West Bank School Reinforces Defences After Settler Violence Claims Lives
Teachers in al‑Mughayyir have rebuilt the school with metal fences and a new gate to convince terrified parents to send their children back.
Tragic Losses Prompt Urgent Security Measures
After Israeli settlers killed five teenage students during the last academic year—one of them at the school gates—teachers in al‑Mughayyir spent the summer fortifying the public secondary school.
Parents were persuaded to return their children after a guided tour showed new metal fences towering over the schoolyard walls, a sturdy metal gate replacing the old door, and a newly erected wall shielding classrooms from a hilltop where a settler had previously shot dead two people, including a student.
Al‑Mughayyir Under Siege
Al‑Mughayyir, a town of about 3,000 north‑east of Ramallah, lives under what residents describe as a siege by Israeli settlers. Armed settlers regularly raid the village, assault residents, attack homes and seize livestock.
Israeli soldiers maintain checkpoints that can block entry or exit for hours, and a single soldier with a rifle patrols the village entrance, deciding who may pass.
The school sits on the edge of the village, close to its entrance, where settlers stage raids while Israeli forces watch.
Escalating Outpost Presence
Mayor Ameen Abu Alia, 54, says the violence is part of a broader project to displace Palestinians from their land. He notes that in 2023 there was only one settler outpost near the town; now there are twelve.
Settlers regularly shut down roads, harass residents grazing sheep near the school and deeper in the village, and steal livestock, leading to confrontations that can end in arrests or death.
Personal Accounts of Violence
In 2024 a settler attacked a home in al‑Mughayyir. Schoolteacher Waheed Abu Naim, 37, tried to push the settler away; the attacker placed a pistol to Abu Naim’s chest and pulled the trigger, but the gun had already fired its last bullet.
Residents compare the tactics to those used in Ras ‘Ein al‑‘Auja, where settlers drove out the last inhabitants in January after relentless attacks.
Limited Government Response
Although settlements are deemed illegal under international law, the Israeli government has taken few steps to curb settler violence, issuing only occasional condemnations. Extremist ministers in the current Netanyahu administration have equipped settlers with guns and vehicles, and settlement expansion has accelerated.
Local people observe close cooperation between Israeli soldiers and settlers, noting that soldiers often intervene only when settlers themselves are threatened.
Life on the Edge
Residents travel the winding one‑mile road into town at high speed, wary of exposure to settler attacks along the route. Despite the tension, the excited shouting of schoolchildren can be heard, echoing across the otherwise quiet village where most shops remain shuttered on weekdays.
Teachers and pupils remain on high alert, determined to protect the school and keep education alive amid the ongoing siege.
