Jewish settlers attack Bedouin camp, setting fire to homes and vehicles & beating local activists and Palestinians

The Shin Bet and Israel Police announced that they have launched an investigation in an attempt to locate Jewish settlers who carried out an attack on the village of Mukhmas, northeast of Jerusalem in Judea and Samaria Saturday night. 

Around 20 settler youth arrived in the village and began attacking several residents with clubs, also beating Israeli and international activists who were present in a makeshift encampment they had set up in the village to help protect the Bedouins. The attackers set fire to several tents and vehicles, fleeing before the arrival of Israeli security forces. 

Palestinian media published footage from security cameras that showed buildings and vehicles on fire, as masked youth moved around. 

IDF units were called to the village, but the suspects managed to escape before the arrival of the forces. During searches in the area, an abandoned Israeli vehicle was found with several clubs inside. 

Palestinian media said that two Palestinian residents and two foreign activists required hospitalization due to injuries sustained in the attack. 

#متداول | مشاهد من هجوم واسع للمستوطنين على تجمع "خلة السدرة" البدوي قرب بلدة مخماس شمال شرق القدس المحتلة pic.twitter.com/mLX1xqiw76

— PaltodayTV (@Paltodaytv) January 17, 2026

One of the human rights activists told Haaretz that the settlers beat them with clubs and rocks. 

“I am in terrible pain and I am bleeding. The settlers, about 20 of them, arrived while some of us were sleeping. They beat us with clubs and rocks, inside the houses and then outside them, and set the houses on fire and chased us around,” he told the newspaper. 

An IDF spokesman said in a statement on 𝕏, “IDF, Border Police, and Israel Police forces recently responded to the Mukhmas area in the Binyamin Brigade following a report that a number of Israeli citizens had set fire to tents and vehicles. As a result of the incident, several Palestinians, foreign citizens and Israelis who were at the scene were injured and evacuated for medical treatment. During searches in the area, an Israeli vehicle was located, from which suspects fled, and clubs were found inside. The vehicle was confiscated by the Shi'a District for further investigation. IDF forces are continuing to search to locate those involved in the incident.” 

כשנשלחתי לחזור לישוב הקטן של הבדואים במוחמאס, הייתי בהלם: אף כלי תקשורת ישראלי לא הגיע לשם. הייתי בטוח שלא אהיה לבד. לבוא לשמוע את קולותיהם של הבדואים שנפצעו ונפגעו מפוגרום של מתנחלים קיצוניים זה אלמנטרי, חשוב ובעיקר ממחיש כמה נשחק השיח הציבורי של אלימות כלפי פלסטינים. אף ערוץ… pic.twitter.com/Gup5SlEDfT

— Yossi Eli (@Yossi_eli) January 18, 2026

The incident is not an isolated case. Last October, a group of settlers attacked the Bedouin community of al-Ara’ara, near Mukhmas, setting fire to several homes. 

In November, the IDF carried out the evacuation of an illegal settler outpost in Gush Etzion, which was being used as a kind of headquarters for a violent settler group known as the Hilltop Youth. Following that forced evacuation, a number of the Hilltop Youth went down to the nearby Arab village of al-Jaba’a, setting fire to buildings and vehicles, and terrorizing the people living there. 

In December, a group of Hilltop Youth entered the village of Samu’a, destroying property, killing and maiming several animals, and injuring three Palestinian residents. 

About two weeks ago, a group of masked Jewish youth set fire to four Palestinian vehicles near the Shavei Shomron junction in Samaria, while the cars were occupied. Two of the Palestinians were injured in the incident, including one who was beaten by the youths. 

While several arrests have been made in previous incidents, the number of prosecutions resulting from the incidents of violence and terror are low. Many of the youths detained or arrested are released before being charged with any crimes, and often engage in repeat offenses. 

In recent statements, Israel Police from the Judea and Samaria District have indicated that they know the identities and locations of most of the youth engaged in such attacks.

Despite such statements, attacks continue to occur frequently, often in the same locations. Israeli and Palestinian activists say the failure to prosecute is due to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir having oversight over the police. Ben Gvir was affiliated with the Hilltop Youth movement in the past, and while working as a lawyer, he defended several settlers accused of violent crimes against Palestinians. 

Israeli peace activists, as well as the Bedouin and Palestinian victims, complained that Israeli security forces usually respond very slowly, often arriving after the attackers have left. In the attack on Mukhmas, the forces arrived over thirty minutes after the first phone call was made regarding the presence of settler youth, the activists said.