On September 21, 2025, dozens of Israeli settlers launched a coordinated assault on Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah. While Israeli media and settler-linked accounts claimed “Arabs attacked a Jewish shepherd,” testimonies and field evidence show settlers, backed by the Israeli army, attacked Palestinian families, beat residents, and stole hundreds of sheep. The incident didn't come as a surprise. Four days earlier, several settlers arrived on two all-terrain vehicles, apparently to gather intelligence. They drove around the area and then left.

Amed Settlers disguised in unifroms stormed the village, using clubs, stones and small armes. They beat residents, causing broken bones and head injuries. Villagers rushing to help were met with gunfire. Settlers fired at residents, including into a car with children. Settlers raided homes and sheep pens under direct Israeli army protection, livestock was taken.

1. Attack of the Sadiq Farakhna properties and family

Accordfing to Sadiq Farakhna who owns a house on the outskirts used by his children to graze sheep, while he resides in another home inside the village, on the morning of the incident, one of his sons informed him that a settler had arrived with a flock of sheep, opened the family’s water tank, allowed his sheep to drink, and grazed them in a pasture designated for the family’s flock. When Farakhna and one of his sons arrived, they found the settler using the water and feeding his sheep with the family’s fodder. According to Misbar investigation, Farakhna warned his children not to confront the settler and advised patience as they observed the situation. Haartez say the family tried to drive the intruders away by throwing stones, prompting the settlers to call for reinforcement. But shortly after, a tractor carrying several settlers arrived: about 30 to 40 settlers, some masked, roughly 20 of them armed with M16 rifles, along with two army jeeps. They broke the iron gate of the pen, which is located near the family homes, and the settlers entered. And they attacked the family, beating them. During the altercation, 81-year-old Farakhna suffered bruises, a broken hand, and contusions on his other arm. One of his grandchildren was struck on the head. Nearby villagers rushed to the scene after hearing screams, escalating the clash as settlers began firing guns. Amid the chaos, the settlers stole about 25 sheep from the Farakhna family.

The settlers killed a sheep by striking its head with an iron rod after it refused to leave the pen (The ewe had recently given birth and wouldn't abandon her lambs).

2. Attack near the home of Jihad Abu Makho

Roughly 30 settlers following the residents returning to the center of the village, firing again before approaching the home of resident Jihad Abu Makho, who keeps a sheep pen on his property. More than 60 settlers broke the sheep pen door, ad stormed his homne and sheep farm—located within the village boundaries—under direct Israeli army protection, stoling sheep belonging to him and his brother Sharif. Jihad was inside his car with his children when the children started crying in fear. As he tried to move them away, settlers fired shots at him inside the vehicle.

Abu Makho denied claims in Hebrew media that village residents attacked a settler, insisting, “The settlers were the ones who attacked the residents and raided their property.”

3. Attack of the properties and family of Sharif Abu Makho

The settlers broke into the pen, stole several sheep, and attacked the flock belonging to Jihad’s brother, Sharif Abu Makho. Jihad withdrew to preserve his safety.Israeli army forces arrived during the attack, but settlers escaped with the stolen flock, estimated at around 230 sheep, to a grazing area opposite the village.

Looting:

Around 230 sheep were stolen in total, including

• 70 sheep from family Jihad Abu Makho.
• 25 sheep from the Farakhna family.

Estimated financial loss: 80,000 Jordanian dinars.

B'Tselem investigator Romaneh says settlers used a well-known method: They immediately mark the stolen sheep as if they were theirs and fold them into their own flock. Sometimes they even claim that Palestinians stole their sheep after marking them. Here, the police quickly adopt the settlers' version without investigating. A police patrol arrived at the scene but merely watched from the side.

Victimes names:

Several people were injured :

1. 4 members of a Bedouin man called Khiri (father, 71, his two brothers and himself)
2. 80-year-old Sadiq Farakhna beaten by settlers Both of his hands are bandaged, as is the head of his grandson, 23, who shares his name. Sadeq's arm is broken and still needs surgery. During the incident, Sadeq was struck by settlers wielding clubs until he fell to the ground but they were interrupted by his son and grand-son.
3. His grand-son Sadiq Farakhna, 10 stitches in his head.

Israeli Claims:

What distinguishes this incident is not only the direct violence against residents but also the intense efforts that followed to distort the facts. While Israeli media and settler-linked accounts claimed that “Arabs attacked a Jewish shepherd,” testimonies collected in the field by Arabic Misnar Media and by Israeli Haaretz and verified details from the scene reveal a very different reality: a coordinated settler attack targeting a Palestinian family as part of an ongoing campaign to seize agricultural land.

Israeli site 0404 claiming that “dozens of Arab terrorists" attacked a Jewish shepherd and stole part of his flock in the West Bank village of Deir Jarir. The report added Jewish residents who arrived at the scene were also pelted with stone and that a Jewish man sustained minor injuries and that a Ranger vehicle from a nearby farm was damaged. It said a large security force was dispatched to the area to search for the stolen livestock and the attackers.

The same day, settler accounts on X posted similar claims, alleging that Palestinians initiated the attack on a Jewish shepherd and stole his flock. They also reported that Israeli forces conducted sweep operations around the village following the incident.

The Israel Police spokesperson responded to Haaretz regarding the claim that officers did nothing: "The claims in your inquiry constitute a serious and deliberate distortion of reality. In fact, an Israeli shepherd was violently attacked by masked Palestinians who stole 70 of his sheep. Police and Israel Defense Forces troops acted immediately, entered the village, located the flock, and returned it to its owners. Any attempt to portray the event as the police 'accompanying a settler theft' is a complete reversal of the facts, severely undermines journalistic credibility and deliberately misleads the public."

Broader context of ethnic cleasing:

Located 12 km to the northeast of Ramallah city, Deir Jarir is surrounded by Al Mazra’a Ash Sharqiya and Kafr Malik (north), Silwad (west), Kokhav Hashahar colony (east), and At Tayba village (south).

It has a population of 5140 people (according to 2014 population projections). Its total area is 33,332 dunums, 793 of which are built-up area.

The Israeli occupation confiscated 2482 dunums of the village for the benefit of:

1. Kokhav Hashahar colony that devoured 1358 dunums of the village lands. It was built in 1977 and is inhabited by 1367 colonists.
2. Bypass roads number 449 and 458 that devoured 1124 dunums.

According to Oslo Accords, about 4906 dunums of Deir Jarir land are under Area B (PA is in charge of civil matters with Israel responsible for security) and 28426 dunums are under Area C (Israel maintains full security and administrative control).

On February 2025, settlers established a new outpost in Deir Jarir lands in the “Al Karma” area between bypass roads Aloun and Road 449. This reflects ongoing settler presence and activity in that district. Escalation linked to an Israeli military road project connecting Deir Jarir, Silwad, and Al-Asur, now used by settlers daily.

Since June 2025, no fewer than eight outposts have been established on the hills overlooking Deir Jarir, choking it from all sides, and their residents are violent.

On September 28, Israeli bulldozers were seen begenning the construction of a new settlement road. This road will connect the Ofra settlement to the main road via a route linking Deir Jarir to Silwad.

Deir Jarir has faced escalating settler attacks since Summer 2025: beatings, shootings, destruction of crops, blockades, land damage and murders. Three residents – two men and a woman – have been killed since October 7. The most recent casualty in the village was killed on September 13, when three young men tried to place stones to block an illegal road that settlers had paved on village land. Mohammad Alawi, 20, was killed by gunfire from either the army or the settlers, or settlers in uniform.

Israeli army consistently protected settlers, restricted Palestinian movement, and used live fire and tear gas against villagers.