West Bank Villagers Vigilant but Vulnerable after Settler Attacks

Sitting around a fire in the hills of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Ibrahim Abu Alyah and some friends stood watch over his herd in the aftermath of a settler attack on their village.
"We are here so that we can put away the sheep and tell people to protect their homes in case settlers come," Abu Alyah told AFP.
After 14-year-old Israeli herder Benjamin Achimeir went missing on April 12 in the nearby illegal settler outpost of Malachi Hashalom, dozens of Jewish settlers raided his village of Al-Mughayyir, north of Ramallah.
Armed with rifles and Molotov cocktails, they set houses ablaze, killed sheep, wounded 23 people and displaced 86, according to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, AFP said.
One Palestinian was also killed in the violence.
Abu Alyah, a shepherd, lost "20 or 30 sheep" and the cash he made from selling milk products when his house was set alight.
Al-Mughayyir's mayor, Amin Abu Alyah, said the settlers, who were part of the search party for Achimeir, burnt "everything they found in front of them" including houses, a bulldozer and vehicles.
Several citizens tried to organize protection committees to defend themselves from raids, but were prevented from doing so, he said.
"We currently have more than 70 prisoners inside Israeli prisons on charges of joining protection committees or trying to form an organized body," he said.
Duma, struck twice
In the nearby village of Duma, five kilometers (three miles) north of Al-Mughayyir, old fears came true when hundreds of settlers came down through the surrounding fields on Saturday.
That day, Achimeir's body was found bearing marks of a stabbing attack. People watched powerless as settlers rampaged through the village.
"Hundreds of settlers entered the village followed by more than 300 Israeli soldiers who stormed the village and declared it a closed military zone," Suleiman Dawabsha, head of Duma's village council, told AFP.
Mahmud Salawdeh, a 30-year-old iron worker whose house was torched in the attack, felt vulnerable when he realized the soldiers were not stopping the attack.
"We feel helpless because we are unable to protect ourselves, and the settlers are protected by the army," he said.
"I lost all my money and my future," he added from the ground floor of his charred house on the outskirts of Duma, near the fields the attackers came through.
At his feet, burnt furniture and shattered glass covered the floor, while walls black with soot served as a reminder of the firebombs thrown at the building.
His workshop in the adjacent room was torched, charred remnants of old tools lay around, while a large wooden box where he had been raising 70 chicks was now empty.
The incident opened old wounds for Duma residents, who still remember the tragedy that struck the Dawabsha family.
In 2015, the family's home was set ablaze by a settler extremist, killing the couple and their toddler, and leaving only one surviving member, four-year-old Ahmed Dawabsha.
'We will never leave'
Duma residents, like many West Bank villagers, say they are protected neither by Palestinian security, which is only allowed to operate in 40 percent of the territory, nor by Israel, which controls the rest.
Israeli soldiers do not always restrain settlers from attacking Palestinians, OCHA said.
In January, "in nearly half of all recorded incidents (of settler violence) after 7 October, Israeli forces were either accompanying or reported to be supporting the attackers," it said.
OCHA recorded 774 instances of Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians since war broke in Gaza on October 7, and said 37 communities had been affected by violence between April 9 and 15, "triple the number" of the preceding week.
Nine Israelis, including five in Israeli forces, were killed in the West Bank over the same timeframe, OCHA said.
At least 462 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank during that period, according to Palestinian official figures.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has seen a surge in violence since early last year, which has intensified since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza erupted.
Despite the hardships, "we will never leave", the herder Abu Alyah told AFP.
But the 29-year-old already had to move from his former herding grounds on the other side of Al-Mughayyir, closer to the settlement outpost, in September.
The weekend's attacks marked a peak in violence due to the sheer number of people who took part in them, but also reflects a wider trend in the West Bank, NGOs said.
"It is clear that the escalation of violence in the West Bank has occurred in tandem with the crisis in Gaza," charity ActionAid said in a statement.
On Wednesday evening, settlers were planting Israeli flags along the road that runs between Al-Mughayyir and Malachi Hashalom.

The Iran-backed Houthi militias have prevented their so-called prime minister, Ahmed al-Rahwi, from naming the head of his office.

The Houthis have instead forced him to appoint a person of their choosing against his wishes, revealed informed sources in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

The Houthis are attempting to strip al-Rahwi, who was named as head of the militias’ new government, of his powers, making his appointment simply a cover for imposing their agenda and favoring Houthis who are descended of the line of their leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi.

The sources revealed that al-Rahwi had headed to the government headquarters with Rabih al-Mehdi, the director of the office of his predecessor. Mehdi hails from the Abyan province that is held by the legitimate government.

Al-Rahwi was seeking to keep al-Mehdi in his post. However, a leading Houthi member, Mohammed Qassem al-Kabisi, who used to occupy the position of government secretary, barred him from making the appointment.

Kabisi even prevented al-Mehdi from entering his office, resulting in an argument with al-Rahwi.

Kabisi informed al-Rahwi that he had no authority in naming the head of his office, saying that he does instead.

Al-Rahwi turned to the Houthis’ so-called ruling high political council to resolve the dispute and was informed that he should accept Kabisi as head of his office despite his objection.

A decree was issued days later naming Kabisi to the post.

He will effectively hold absolute power in government, while al-Rahwi will simply play a figurative role and only be needed to approve decisions and procedures taken by the Houthi leadership, joining other ministers who have no real duties.

The Houthis have formed a new government that will follow in the footsteps of its predecessor in keeping actual power to the militias themselves.

The new lineup includes a pro-Houthi figure, with no diplomatic background or experience, who was named foreign minister, replacing leading General People's Congress member Hisham Sharaf.

The appointment only fueled claims that the Houthis were seeking to eliminate their partners from rule. Al-Rahwi himself had no say in the lineup.

The Houthis announced the formation of their government on August 12. It met on August 17 to discuss its program, referred it to parliament the same day and by the next morning, an announcement was made that it was approved with no amendments or objections.

The incident with al-Rahwi has fueled speculation that the coming period will witness more struggles for power among the Houthis and their partners, whom they are trying to keep out of rule.

Observers noted that Kabisi is the son of a top Houthi leader. Qassem al-Kabisi is one of the founders of the group and is close to their leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi.

The senior Houthi officials believe they have the right to represent the Houthis in rule since they are its founders and oldest members.

West Bank Villagers Vigilant but Vulnerable after Settler Attacks