Settler extremists attack Palestinian village Mukhmas after nearby outpost demolished

Extremist settler activists from the illegal settlement outpost of Kol Mevaser attacked the West Bank Palestinian village of Mukhmas Wednesday morning, after security forces demolished several structures at the wildcat hilltop settlement.

Following the demolition by the security services in the morning, several settler extremists descended from the Kol Mevaser hilltop and set fires in Mukhmas in an attempt to burn down infrastructure.

Security camera footage from the area showed the extremists setting fires close to buildings on the outskirts of the village.

Later on Wednesday, settler activists staged demonstrations at several junctions around the West Bank in protest at the demolition of Kol Mevaser and other outposts during the course of the last two days.

According to civil rights activists assisting Palestinians in the Mukhmas region in the central West Bank, early on Wednesday morning some 15 activists ascended the hill where Kol Mevaser has been repeatedly built and then demolished by the security services, in what was possibly an attempt to halt the latest demolition operation.

Border Police and personnel from the Civil Administration arrived at the scene and knocked down tents and other structures, although left a rudimentary wooden home intact. Despite Kol Mevaser being located in a closed military zone, the settler activists were not detained or arrested.

Settler extremists, many of them masked, then descended from the direction of Kol Mevaser just after 10 a.m. and attacked infrastructure in Mukhmas. Residents have alleged that Kol Mevaser extremists have repeatedly attacked their village.

Barbed wire designed to keep assailants out of the village’s land was cut. Security camera footage showed several extremists setting a fire by a fence protecting a chicken coop. Civil rights activists later found burnt cloth which had been used to try and set the coops on fire, they said.

A message put out on a WhatsApp group run by the Kol Mevaser activists following the morning’s events said that they managed to prevent the destruction of some of the structures at the outpost.

“Despite the difficulty, we are not broken, and we will continue to build anew and to settle the Land of Israel,” the message said. The settlers also made an appeal for donations to rebuild Kol Mevaser through crowdfunding websites. Many illegal outposts make use of crowdfunding websites to raise money, even though such activity is illegal.

Earth-moving equipment was seen being used at Kol Mevaser on Wednesday evening, although it is unclear if this was part of further demolition efforts by security services or renewed efforts by settlers to rebuild the site.

The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“What happened today would not have happened if the Israeli security forces were enforcing the closed military zone against the people who were in Kol Mevaser when the army was there this morning,” said head of the Torah Tzedek organization, Rabbi Arik Ascherman.

He added that the ongoing failure of the security services to destroy an illegal access road leading from a nearby paved road to Kol Mevaser was what enabled the settler activists to repeatedly rebuild the outpost and maintain their presence in the area.

“The clear goal of the Kol Mevaser outpost is to use violence to force Palestinians out of their homes,” continued Ascherman, noting that the nearby Palestinian Bedouin hamlet of Khalet a-Sidra was recently abandoned due to repeated attacks, allegedly by Kol Mevaser residents.

“They are now working on the village of Mukhmas as well.”

Later Wednesday evening, settler activists prepared to demonstrate around the West Bank. against outpost demolitions

“Enough to persecution of the pioneering settlements — we’re not going back to the Oslo borders,” read a message posted to one WhatsApp group.