Settlers assault people, set fire to homes and cars in Bedouin encampment in West Bank

Settlers assaulted Palestinians and left-wing activists and set fire to at least eight homes and two vehicles this evening in the Bedouin encampment of Khallet al-Sidra, near Mukhmas in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate.

Two Palestinians and two foreign activists were hospitalized for their wounds sustained in the attack, the governorate says.

The IDF says military, police and Border Police troops who arrived on the scene located an Israeli vehicle from which the suspected assailants fled. Inside the car were several clubs, the military says.

Palestinian, Israeli and foreign nationals were injured in the attack, the IDF says, adding that Israeli forces are scanning the area to find the attackers.

WAFA, the PA’s official news agency, reports that the settlers fired guns at the Bedouin encampment before proceeding to assault people and vandalize property inside the encampment.

Security camera footage sent to The Times of Israel by Rabbi Arik Ascherman, an Israeli human rights activist who frequents Mukhmas, shows settlers walking around the encampment and setting tents on fire.

Security camera footage shows settlers setting fire to tents in the Bedouin encampment of Khallet al-Sidra, close to Mukhmas in the West Bank, January 17, 2026. (courtesy)

The footage, which is timestamped to shortly before 10 p.m., also features the apparent sound of gunshots, followed by cries from both people and animals, before the settlers storm the encampment.

Ascherman says about 20 settlers participated in the attack.