The Israeli army uprooted centuries-old olive trees, vandalized homes, and began paving a settlement road during its siege of Al-Mughayyir.
The Israeli army withdrew on Sunday morning from the town of Al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, following a three-day siege that left behind widespread devastation and the arrest of dozens of residents, including the head of the village council, Amin Abu Aliya.
According to the Anadolu news agency, residents poured into the streets after the withdrawal to assess the destruction. They discovered that hundreds of olive trees, some centuries old, had been uprooted from the village’s plains. On the eastern side, residents rushed to replant the trees razed by Israeli bulldozers.
Although the troops pulled out from inside Al-Mughayyir, Israeli military vehicles remain positioned around the town, where they are paving a new settlement road through its territory.
During the raid, Israeli forces bulldozed agricultural lands, raided dozens of homes, and vandalized their contents — actions described by residents as acts of “revenge.”
The Israeli army has uprooted 3,000 olive trees, citing security concerns, in the village of al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians are trying to replant them. pic.twitter.com/abFQ1JrmEW
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 24, 2025
Arrest of Village Council Head
The siege culminated in the arrest of council head Amin Abu Aliya on Saturday evening. His son was first detained, and the army informed him that he must surrender to end the standoff.
Before his arrest, Abu Aliya appeared in a video message stressing that the siege was conditional upon his detention. “I sacrifice my freedom for my family, and I have provided every service I could to the country without discrimination,” he said.
The Palestinian Anti-Wall and Settlement Commission reported that Israeli occupation authorities had issued a military order to uproot trees on 297 dunams of Al-Mughayyir’s land, citing “security reasons” tied to settlement expansion.
Mass Arrest Campaign in the West Bank
At dawn on Sunday, the Israeli army launched a wider campaign of raids across the occupied West Bank, arresting nine Palestinians and severely beating another.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the raids were concentrated in Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, and Hebron. Four Palestinians were detained in Nablus from the Ma’ajin and Jabal al-Shamali neighborhoods and the Balata refugee camp.
In Tulkarm, university student Muqdad Shadid was detained after his home was vandalized in Allar, while another young man was taken from Qabatiya in Jenin.
🚨 Israeli Occupying Forces have been attacking Al-Mughayyir village northeast of Ramallah since Thursday (21 Aug)
🔴 Reports of widespread home raids, residents assaulted & detained, property vandalised, theft of money & gold jewellery & cars damaged (smashed with rocks). /1 pic.twitter.com/zVCzTyCwQX— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) August 23, 2025
In Hebron (Al-Khalil), Israeli forces raided Tabqa village, detaining Muhammad Kayed Abu Atwan and Yamen Amjad Haribat, while detaining Haitham Shalaldeh from Sa’ir. Local sources also reported that a young man from Idhna was dragged from his vehicle and beaten so severely that he required hospitalization.
Since October 7, 2023, more than 1,015 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 wounded in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers. Over 18,500 have been detained, according to Palestinian figures.
Meanwhile, Israel’s war on Gaza continues, with the Ministry of Health reporting 62,622 Palestinians killed and 157,673 wounded — most of them women and children. More than 9,000 people remain missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and famine has already claimed 281 lives, including 114 children.
(PC, AJA)
Al-Mughayyir, similar to the name, Magyar, the nomadic Magyar tribes.
The ” Jewish ” settlers are scumbags. Most Israeli Jews are shady, scummy people. The very small handful of good, decent ones need to rise up and take over.
In 2003 an official at the Simon Wiesenthal Center informed me that the IDF only target known terrorists. Since the IDF have targeted olive trees in this act of aggression, one must conclude that Shin Bet and the IDF knew these trees were terrorists. King George the 3rd of Britain talked to trees; it is not known if they replied. Evidently Shin Bet and the IDF think they do reply … King George the 3rd was considered insane. What else can we consider the IDF and Shin Bet?