Settlers harassed Palestinian shepherds in Mikhmas and in ensuing clashes, killed a local teen and stole hundreds of sheep with soldiers securing them

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On Wednesday, 18 February 2026, the second day of Ramadan, at around 2:00 P.M., two settlers led a herd of cattle to two sheep farms on the outskirts of the village of Mikhmas, southeast of the city of Ramallah. The settlers, one of them about 15 years old, chased after 'Ayed Abu ‘Ali, 52, the owner of one of the farms, who was grazing his sheep near it. The teen threatened Abu ‘Ali and his flock with a stick, while the other settler filmed what was happening. The two then threw stones at Abu ‘Ali and the sheep. At that point, Abu ‘Ali’s son Mu’aiad, 22, arrived and tried to protect his father and the flock.

Roughly 10 minutes after the settlers arrived, about 15 village residents came to Abu ‘Ali’s aid, and two more settlers arrived as well. One of them, known to the residents as Eliyahu, was carrying a handgun, and the other, known to them as Amir, the security guard of a nearby settlement, had an M-16 rifle. At that point, the teen smashed the window of Mu’aiad Abu ‘Ali’s car, and the settler known as Amir fired 20-30 shots in the air to drive the family members and other residents away.

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The village residents retreated towards the houses, where they were joined by about 10 other locals, including Nasrallah Abu Siyam, 19. At that point, two masked settlers came from the direction of a nearby hill known as al-Qubah and began throwing stones at the residents, injuring Abu Siyam on the side of his body. Soon after, soldiers arrived in four military jeeps and fired tear gas canisters at the residents, who withdrew from the area, some towards village homes and others towards al-Qubah Hill. The settlers, meanwhile, broke into the farms and entered the livestock enclosures. When the residents tried to head back to the farms to keep the sheep from being stolen, the soldiers fired tear gas and live ammunition at them and protected the thieves, enabling them to steal hundreds of sheep from the two farms.

At around 2:30 P.M., the residents who had fled to the hill came across a group of about seven masked settlers who chased them there from the direction of Abu ‘Ali’s farm. Two of the settlers were armed with M-16 rifles, one with a handgun, and the rest with clubs. One of the settlers knelt in a sniper position and fired at the group of young Palestinians from a distance of about 50 meters. The young men began running down the hill, but one of them, A., was shot in the leg and taken to a hospital in Ramallah, where he was diagnosed with a fracture.

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Meanwhile, another group of residents noticed that about 15 sheep had got away when the settlers took the flock out of the pens and went up the hill, and several residents went there to retrieve them. At the top of the hill, they also came across settlers, and some of the residents began throwing stones at them. The settlers managed to catch one of them, L., and beat him with clubs until his brother S. and Nasrallah Abu Siyam managed to rescue him. At that point, one of the settlers again knelt in a sniper position and fired at them with an M-16 rifle, hitting S. in the thigh.

Shortly afterwards, at around 2:45 P.M., another settler, also masked, fired at the residents with his M-16 rifle, hitting Nasrallah Abu Siyam in the right thigh and knocking him to the ground.

Several residents carried him down the hill and drove him in a car to a clinic in the neighborhood of a-Ram. Abu Siyam could not be taken to a hospital in Ramallah, as the DCO checkpoint, located at the eastern entrance to the city, was closed at the time. The clinic’s medical staff recommended taking him to hospital in Ramallah for urgent surgery, but since the military also closed the Jaba’ checkpoint, located at the southern entrance to Ramallah, and due to heavy traffic in the area, his friends had to carry him on foot for about a kilometer, up to the entrance to Qalandiya Refugee Camp, from where he was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Ramallah.

Due to the considerable delays, Abu Siyam did not arrive at the hospital until around 5:00 P.M., more than two hours after he was shot. He arrived in critical condition and with no pulse. The doctors initially managed to resuscitate him, but his condition later deteriorated, and at 11:00 P.M. that night, they pronounced him dead.

In the following days, the farm owners went to the Geva Binyamin police station at least four times to file a complaint against the settlers, but the police officers denied them entry to the station on various pretexts.

Attacks on Palestinians by settler militias, fully backed by the military and police and often with their active participation, were a daily feature of life in the West Bank before 7 October 2023, and have become more so since. The State of Israel arms these militias and provides them with off-road vehicles they use to attacks Palestinian communities and residents. In doing so, the state not only gives the settler militias free rein but actively encourages harm to Palestinians in the West Bank: daily harassment, theft and damage to property, as well as violence that often ends in injury or killing.

Israeli authorities are doing more than turning a blind eye. They are practicing a policy of absolute impunity for the attackers, which enables the violence to persist and fuels its escalation, making the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank unbearable and driving them off their land.

B’Tselem field researcher ‘Amer ‘Aruri collected the residents’ testimonies.

M., 37, a father of two who witnessed Abu Siyam’s shooting, related on 23 February 2026:

On Wednesday, 18 February 2026, at around 2:00 P.M., I was plowing my land near 'Ayed Abu ‘Ali’s farm. I saw 'Ayed grazing his sheep near the pens, and then I saw two settlers, who are known in the area as cattle herders, approaching 'Ayed with sticks. One of them, a boy of about 15, filmed 'Ayed and his sheep, while the other made the sheep scatter and chased after 'Ayed and the sheep, threatening them with a stick, for about 20 minutes.

At that point, another settler, whom we know as Eliyahu, arrived. He had a handgun. We know him from previous attacks, and we also know that he reported unregistered vehicles in Mikhmas to the police many times.

Shortly afterwards, about 15 residents from Mikhmas came to protect 'Ayed from the settlers, and then another settler arrived on foot. We know him as Amir, and he speaks fluent Arabic and works as a security guard in a settlement in the area. He had an M-16 rifle and was wearing a red hoodie. Meanwhile, the cattle-herding settlers again chased after 'Ayed’s sheep, and I saw the boy smash the rear window of 'Ayed’s son Mu’aiad’s car. Amir fired into the air, and because of the shooting, the sheep ran towards the pen. I asked him, “Why are you firing live rounds?”, and he said to me, “Go back, and I promise the settlers will back off.”

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We backed away towards the nearest house in the village, and in the meantime, about 10 more village residents arrived, including Nasrallah Abu Siyam. At that point, two masked settlers came down from the nearby hill, al-Qubah, and started throwing stones at us from a distance of about 20 meters, and Nasrallah was hit in the side of the body by one of the stones.

About ten minutes after the first two settlers arrived at the farms, three male soldiers and a female soldier arrived in a military jeep. The soldiers pushed us back, physically, and threatened to shoot us, and then two of them fired tear gas canisters at us. At that stage, Nasrallah was with us. We were more or less 50 meters away from 'Ayed’s farm, and I saw the settlers stealing his sheep.

While the settlers were stealing sheep from the two farms, Abu ‘Ali’s farm and the neighboring farm, we tried to move towards the farms, but the soldiers pushed us back, and when we didn’t go back, they fired at us. Meanwhile, more soldiers joined them, arriving in three jeeps, and they also fired live rounds and tear gas canisters at us. We fled to another area, behind the houses, and then I saw about 15 sheep going up al-Qubah hill on their own. We followed them, hoping to bring them back and prevent the settlers from stealing them.

When we went up the hill, we came across seven armed settlers, one with a handgun, two with rifles and the rest with sticks. They were standing at the top of the hill. I also saw several young men carrying A., who, it turned out, had been wounded by settler gunfire. They went up the hill before us, so I didn’t see the moment he was shot.

The settlers also fired at us, and they managed to catch one of the young guys, L., who had trouble running, and beat him with sticks for a minute or less. The distance between us and them was about 20 meters. Meanwhile, some of the young men threw stones at the settlers, and S., L.’s brother, and Nasrallah Abu Siyam rescued L. At that point, one of the settlers, who was kneeling in a sniper position, fired at us. The young guys continued throwing stones, and S. was wounded in his right thigh by settler gunfire. The injury was superficial. A few minutes later, another settler, who was tall and thin, wore a grey hoodie, had his face covered and was armed with an M-16, shot Nasrallah, who was hit and fell to the ground.

The moment Nasrallah was wounded, I lifted him with three other guys and carried him to the road at the bottom of the hill, a distance of 50 meters. At that stage, he was still alive and bleeding from his right thigh. He said he was dying and screamed, “My head is going to explode!” The injury was in the back part of his thigh. We put Nasrallah into a car that belonged to one of the guys, and L. got into the car with him. S. was taken to the hospital in another car.

During all that time, while we were on the hill, the soldiers didn’t go up there. They came only after the shooting.

After they drove off, I was in shock for about 20 minutes. I froze in place and couldn’t move or speak. I cried quietly. I saw them beating S., then shooting him, and then shooting the late Nasrallah. Afterwards, I walked towards the farms, but there were soldiers there, and they were firing tear gas at the people gathered there. One soldier told them, “Leave now. We, the army, will bring your flock back!”

I went home, and after the Iftar meal to break the fast, I went to the hospital and found out that Nasrallah had been taken into surgery. The surgery took about three hours, and we stayed there until 11:00 P.M., when the doctors pronounced him dead.

During the incident, I noticed a settler drone filming everything that was happening. Before news of Nasrallah’s death came out, the settlers posted a video filmed by the drone documenting the shooting.

A., 23, who was present at the scene, related on 23 February 2026:

In the early afternoon of Wednesday, 18 February 2026, I was at work in the supermarket when I found out from social media that settlers had attacked sheep pens that belong to a man from the village named 'Ayed Thalji Abu ‘Ali and were trying to steal his sheep. The sheep pens are located to the east of the village, not far from the houses.

I went with a group of 20-30 guys to see what was happening there. We reached the sheep pens, and I saw three settlers there, two of them in their twenties, unarmed, and a third, who is known to me and the other residents as Amir. He is a security guard in one of the settlements and speaks Arabic, and he was armed with a rifle. He was wearing a burgundy top and black pants. The two settlers and Amir were walking around the pens in a confrontational manner.

As we got closer to the settlers, a military jeep with three male soldiers and a female soldier arrived from the direction of the village’s main street. At the same time, another group of about 15 settlers arrived from the eastern side of the village. Two of them were wearing military uniforms but were masked. These two were more aggressive than the others and pushed any guy who tried to come near the area.

The occupation soldiers fired tear gas canisters and live rounds at us, and one of the young men was wounded in his hand. At that stage, as far as I could see, the shooters were the soldiers, not the settlers. I estimate that the distance between us and them was 100 meters. We ran away from there and climbed a hill located about 200–300 meters east of the pens, in an area called al-Qubah.

From there, we watched the settlers lead the sheep away and steal them in full view of the occupation soldiers, who did nothing to stop the theft in broad daylight.

While we were in the al-Qubah area, several masked settlers came towards us from the direction of the sheep pens, and one of them was armed with a long rifle. He began shooting directly at us from a distance of no more than 50 meters and also fired into the air. He fired without any warning. At that point, we fled and went down the hill towards the girls’ school in the village, which isn’t far from there. The settlers were on higher ground than us. As I was running away, I turned around and saw the armed settler kneeling on a rock in a sniper position and firing. I felt I had been hit in my right leg, in the muscle area behind the knee. Later, I found out that the bullet went in and out through the flesh of the leg. When I was hit, it felt like an electric shock to my leg, and then I fell to the ground. I estimate that the distance between me and that settler was 20 meters. I was so shocked and in so much pain that I didn’t understand what was happening. The guys carried me and put me in a private car, then took me to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where they stopped the bleeding and did X-rays and a CT scan, which revealed a bone fracture. The doctors put my leg in a cast and said I would need surgery later to put in a metal fixator.

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Mu’aiad Abu ‘Ali, the son of the farm owner who was attacked, related in a testimony on 22 February 2026:

I live in Mikhmas. I am single and live with my parents. I work at a butcher’s shop and also as a shepherd in our sheep farm in the al-Qubah area, east of Mikhmas. We have two sheep pens there with 250 sheep, big and small, black and white. The farm is in Area C, about 100 meters from the last house in the village and near the girls’ school. It’s been there for 40 years.

Since 7 October, three outposts have been established in our area. One of them is about one kilometer east of the farm, and there is also an outpost about two kilometers north of the farm. [The third outpost is also east of Mikhmas, about 3 km away.]

On Wednesday, 18 February 2023, at around 2:00 P.M., I was at work at the butcher’s shop in the village. Mikhmas was quiet. When I finished work, I went to the farm to help my father tend the sheep. When I arrived, I saw two settlers with a cattle herd, about 100 meters away from the farm. They were throwing stones at my father and his sheep and tried to prevent him from grazing them near the farm. I believe they came from the outpost that was set up about a kilometer from the farm.

I got out of the car and went to help my father protect the sheep from the settlers’ attack. One of them was a kid, I estimate he was between 13 and 15, with blond hair, and the other, about 30, was also blond. The older settler said in broken Arabic, “This land is ours!”

Less than half an hour later, two more settlers arrived. One was blond with side locks and seemed to me to be about 35. The other also looked in his thirties. They weren’t armed. The settlers started following us as we tried to bring the sheep back to the farm, which was about 50 meters away from us.

Meanwhile, the young settler went over to my car and smashed the rear window. While we were bringing the sheep back to the farm, a man we know as a security guard in one of the settlements in the area came towards us, and as he approached, he fired 20-30 shots in the air to frighten the young guys who had just arrived from the village to help us against the settlers. He spoke fluent Arabic and said his name was Amir. Then he said to us, “Back away from the area, and I promise the settlers will back off too!” We left the farm, locked it and moved 50 meters away towards the nearest house. At that moment, an occupation forces vehicle turned up, and then the settlers broke the locks on the farm gates and entered the pens.

When we saw that, my father and I tried to go back to the farm with the guys who had come to help us to stop the settlers from stealing our sheep or harming them, and then the occupation forces fired tear gas canisters at us. They also fired live ammunition over our heads. A few minutes later, three more occupation forces jeeps arrived, which paralyzed us and enabled the settlers to do whatever they wanted and steal our sheep.

Afterwards, we heard gunfire from the direction of the hill known as the al-Qubah area, and then reports came in on WhatsApp that three young men from the village had been wounded by settler gunfire. The whole incident took place within an hour from when I got to the farm. When the occupation forces left, and I could go back to the farm, I discovered that the settlers had stolen 250 sheep. But they didn’t steal the lambs, which is why 16 sheep, the mothers, came back to the farm on their own, evidence of their maternal instinct.

The settlers also stole 150 sheep from the neighboring farm. We contacted the Israeli police, and they told us we had to go to the Geva Binyamin police station to file a complaint. My father and the owner of the other farm went there on Friday, but they refused to admit them and told them to come back on Sunday, 22 February 2026.

It’s worth noting that two months ago or more, settlers attacked my uncle’s farm, he is 56, and torched a room there, and he was forced to abandon the place.