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Israeli forces tighten siege on occupied West Bank village, block ambulances

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 24 August 2025 9:41 AM

Israeli forces have tightened the siege on the village of al-Mughayyir in the occupied West Bank for a fourth day, intensifying their raids on homes, arrests of residents, and destruction of farmland.

Local activist Mohammed Abu Alia said troops stormed more than 30 houses, ransacked belongings, and fired tear gas inside one residence.

He added that soldiers seized vehicles, money and jewelry, while barring residents and journalists from entering the village. Many families have been stranded outside since Thursday.

Bulldozers were also seen clearing land to make way for a new settler road through the eastern outskirts of the village, uprooting hundreds of trees in the process.

The incursions follow claims that an illegal settler was injured in a shooting operation at a settlement outpost built on the grounds of al-Mughayyir.

Rawhi Fattouh, head of the Palestinian National Council, denounced the raid as part of a "systematic policy of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing."

He said the violence in al-Mughayyir was directly linked to Israel's broader settlement agenda, including the recently approved E1 plan east of al-Quds.

Critics say the controversial scheme would sever the West Bank and prevent a viable Palestinian state.

Deputy head of al-Mughayyir village council, Marzouq Abu Naim, said Israeli forces have continued to completely seal all entrances to the village, while establishing military checkpoints and forcing key businesses, including bakeries and pharmacies, to close.

Ambulances were also blocked from leaving or entering the village, with pregnant women forced to walk to the checkpoints and go to neighboring villages for treatment.

"This is not separate from what is happening in Gaza, the genocide, siege and starvation are part of the same campaign against the Palestinian people," Fattouh said in a statement, urging international action to hold Israeli leaders accountable.

Israeli forces have also uprooted thousands of olive trees near the settlement road that surrounds the village, with the army sending notice to the village council that the trees would be destroyed on "security" grounds.

Abu Naim asserted that Israel is conducting a kind of "collective revenge" against the villagers, following the widespread circulation of images and footage depicting the army and settler uprooting activities.

Israel has ramped up violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and killed at least 1,014 Palestinians and injured more than 7,000 others since it launched a genocidal war in Gaza in October 2023.

The International Court of Justice declared in July 2024 that Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land is illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.