[News] In West Bank Village, a New Israeli Order Enables Settler Attacks While Claiming to Prevent Them

Wed Aug 12 14:06:58 EDT 2026

In West Bank Village, a New Israeli Order Enables Settler Attacks While 
Claiming to Prevent Them
The Israeli military declared the Palestinian village of Taybeh a closed 
military zone to "maintain order" but residents say settlers are still 
allowed to raid the area.
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  In West Bank Village, a New Israeli Order Enables Settler Attacks
  While Claiming to Prevent Them
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      The Israeli military declared the Palestinian village of Taybeh a
      closed military zone to "maintain order" but residents say
      settlers are still allowed to raid the area.

Sharif Abdel Kouddous <https://substack.com/@sharifabdelkouddous>

Aug 12, 2026

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Israeli settlers continue their raids on the Palestinian village of 
Taybeh in the occupied West Bank despite the Israeli army declaring the 
area a 'closed military zone,' on August 10, 2026. Photo by Issam 
Rimawi/Anadolu via Getty Images.

TAYBEH, Occupied West Bank*—On Sunday, the Israeli military declared the 
Palestinian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank a closed 
military zone, claiming the order was aimed to prevent escalating 
attacks by marauding Israeli settlers. It ostensibly bars Israelis and 
foreigners from entering the area.

But residents of the village and the surrounding area told Drop Site 
News that the military order is designed to further isolate Taybeh from 
the outside world, barring solidarity activists from the area while 
allowing settler attacks to continue. One of the few Christian-majority 
Palestinian villages in the West Bank, Taybeh has come under growing 
attacks by Israeli settlers who have expanded colonial outposts 
encircling it over the past several weeks.

“The order says that Israelis and foreigners are prohibited from 
entering the area. What about the settler roaming around the area? What 
is he? Is he Israeli or not? Why is he in the area?,” said Jack Abed, 
the priest of the Greek Catholic Church in Taybeh. “This order is 
intended to prevent human rights defenders from being present to defend 
us against what these settler thugs are doing—attacking us in an 
extremely brutal manner.”

The observation was echoed by Nayef Kaabneh, head of the Bedouin 
community in Taybeh that lives in the lands around the village. “They 
told us the area had been declared a closed military zone to stop the 
settlers from coming here. But it turned out that was all lies. The 
settlers still come here, while the activists are prevented from coming 
to us,” Kaabneh said. “They want to isolate us so they can come after us.”

Kaabneh recounted a recent incident when a settler arrived in the area 
followed by several international solidarity activists. “We called the 
police and the army. The army came and said, ‘This is a closed military 
zone. Leave.’ So the activists left, and the settler left. But the 
settler just went over there, and once the army left, he came back. And 
the activists didn’t come back. So the order is really aimed at the 
activists, not the settlers,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military issued a similar decree, announcing 
<https://substack.com/redirect/531f49e6-7c38-4113-87fc-13f96d876739?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>a 
military closure on the villages of Kufr Qallil and Jalud, both in the 
northern Nablus governorate, again claiming it was necessary to protect 
Palestinian residents from settlers.

Despite occasional statements by Israeli authorities that it does not 
tolerate attacks by settlers, collaboration by Israeli forces in settler 
attacks is well established. A UN report 
<https://substack.com/redirect/eaf35a5f-fdff-42b0-9d92-c7708c69b872?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>by 
the Commission of Inquiry on the ‌Occupied Palestinian Territory in June 
concluded that Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler 
attacks that have killed, injured, and displaced Palestinian communities 
in the West Bank. “The increasing participation of Israeli security 
forces in settler attacks amounts to a de facto collapse of the 
distinction between settlers and soldiers,” the report said.

The commission found that “settler violence in the West Bank functions 
as a means of implementing Israeli State policy, with the State and 
violent settler groups and individuals working towards the same 
strategic objectives, including the maintenance of the unlawful 
occupation, the entrenchment of illegal Israeli settlements, the 
annexation of Palestinian territory and the displacement of Palestinians 
from their land.” It added, “Israeli authorities have enabled such 
attacks through financial and military support while Israeli judicial 
and law enforcement authorities have granted impunity for settler 
violence for decades.”

While attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers on Palestinians in the 
West Bank have been a frequent occurrence for years, they have 
accelerated sharply since October 2023 in parallel with Israel’s 
genocidal assault on Gaza, with over 1,100 Palestinians killed and tens 
of thousands forcibly displaced.

Last month, the UN warned that attacks by Israeli settlers and the 
creation of settlements and outposts have hit “an all-time high.” Over 
the past two and a half weeks, the attacks escalated even further 
following a raid 
<https://substack.com/redirect/54069026-928a-4eaa-add3-9658e4283c27?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>by 
settlers on the village of Tell that ended with four Palestinians and 
two settlers being killed. Over the past week alone, there have been 
over 500 reported attacks, according to the Colonization and Wall 
Resistance Commission.

Palestinians in the village of Taybeh, which is home to some 1,500 
people and lies several kilometers northeast of Jerusalem and Ramallah, 
said that the settler violence has become all but intolerable. Just over 
a third ⁠of Taybeh—including most of the built up section of the 
village—is designated as Area B, a classification under the Oslo Accords 
where the Palestinian Authority is in charge of civil administration 
while Israel officially retains security control. The rest of Taybeh’s 
lands are designated as Area C, where Israel officially exercises full 
civil and security control.

“There were attacks before, but nothing like what we’re seeing these 
days,” Kaabneh said. “Over the past 15 days, the settlers have been 
coming two or three times a day, in the morning and in the evening. 
They’ve really intensified the pressure on us.”

“They want to forcibly displace us,” he added. “God willing, we’ll 
remain patient, and God will give us the strength not to leave this 
place and to remain steadfast here.”

Taybeh’s churches date back to the Fifth Century. “Taybeh is a 
Palestinian village, regardless of whether it’s Christian or Muslim,” 
Abed, the local priest, said. “The Jewish settler doesn’t 
distinguish—all he sees is a Palestinian.”

Israeli settlers have also targeted Taybeh’s olive groves, which provide 
one of the primary sources of income to the village. Multiple residents 
told Drop Site that settlers bring sheep and other livestock to graze on 
their lands and use up the water in local wells and also bring camels to 
chew at the tops of the olive trees and ruin them.

“The camels are destroying the trees because they’re such tall, large 
animals. The tops of the olive trees have been completely destroyed…. 
These are Roman era olive trees. It’s truly heartbreaking,” Fouad Maadi, 
a local resident, said. “Every aspect of life [is affected], everything. 
Commerce is finished, agriculture is finished, livestock is finished.”

“It’s a campaign of revenge against us aimed at forcing us out of this 
land. But we’re staying here,” he added. “We’re not going to leave, no 
matter what.”

/* A journalist in the West Bank contributed reporting. Drop Site News 
Middle East Research Fellow Jawa Ahmad also contributed to this 
report./becoming a paid subscriber today.

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