Several Killed, 700+ Displaced, 100,000 Without Water in West Bank

Between January 20 and February 2, 2026, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including a child, in the West Bank. Another 111 Palestinians were injured, including 12 children — 78 at the hands of Israeli state forces and 33 by Israeli settlers. Nearly 700 Palestinians in nine communities were displaced by settler attacks in the first weeks of 2026 alone, including an estimated 650 from the Ras Ein Al-Auja Bedouin community.

Repeated settler attacks on the Ein Samiya wells east of Ramallah cut the main water supply intermittently for three days, affecting an estimated 100,000 Palestinians. About 170 Palestinians were displaced by home demolitions for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, following a record year in 2025 in which more than 1,700 were displaced in Area C and East Jerusalem.

Large-scale Israeli military operations have expanded beyond the northern West Bank into the central and southern governorates, including Qalandiya refugee camp and Kafr Aqab in Jerusalem governorate. According to the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department, in the first 35 days of 2026, Israeli forces carried out 1,723 military invasions and 985 arrests in the West Bank. This pace is slightly higher than 2025, when forces averaged 48 invasions and 28 arrests per day across the full year.

The biggest story is one that received surprisingly little coverage in Hebrew or international media. Ras Ein Al-Auja, a Bedouin community of roughly 650 people in the Jordan Valley, essentially no longer exists. The last families were packing up and leaving by late January after years of escalating attacks from four surrounding settlement outposts.

Settlers had blocked access to the Al-Auja Spring, poisoned or stolen livestock, and grazed their animals through residential areas. The community held on for two years. Then, in January alone, about 450 of the 650 inhabitants were forced to flee, with 77 households comprising 375 people displaced on January 19 alone, following 21 families who left on January 8. By late January, only 14 Ghawanmeh families remained, saying they had nowhere else to go.

This displacement has been described as “the largest expulsion from a single Bedouin community as a result of Israeli settler violence in modern times”. A joint diplomatic statement and a UN letter from the State of Palestine both called for immediate international intervention. In large part, there hasn’t been any meaningful, responsive intervention.

On January 27, a large group of armed settlers attacked three villages in Masafer Yatta with an escort of Israeli forces. They moved from village to village, setting fire to Palestinian property, stealing livestock, spraying teargas inside homes, and terrorizing residents in a joint operation between settlers and Israeli forces.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported its medics were pelted with stones by settlers while trying to reach wounded Palestinians in Khirbet al-Fakhit. Two Palestinians were confirmed injured: a young man with a head wound who lost consciousness, and a girl whose arm was broken. After the attack, two Palestinians and zero Israelis were arrested by Israeli forces. CCTV footage later showed soldiers escorting settlers as they walked away with livestock from Khirbet al-Halawa.

Masafer Yatta has become a different place. According to OCHA data, between 2006 and 2020, just 18 settler incidents were documented there. Between 2021 and 2024, OCHA recorded 180. The monthly average increased from 1.5 attacks in 2021–2022 to nearly five per month in 2023–2024 and to approximately six per month in the first quarter of 2025. Doctors Without Borders has started providing mental health services to residents dealing with what the organization calls “a devastating psychological toll”.

Settlers attacked the Ein Samiya water wells near Ramallah multiple times in January. On the 17th, they smashed control panels and cables, cutting the water supply from 10 PM until 9 AM. WAFA reported that attackers targeted wells and broke windows, doors, and control panels. When repair crews arrived on the 26th, settlers assaulted technical crews and blocked access to repair damage to Well No. 6, forcing a complete shutdown of pumping.

As a result, more than 19 Palestinian communities in eastern Ramallah were deprived of their primary water source. The head of the Kafr Malik council warned that the crisis could affect over 100,000 Palestinians. Fanack Water reported this was part of a pattern of repeated attacks on the same site, with previous incidents in June and July 2025.

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January 2026 recorded the second-highest monthly displacement from settler violence since October 2023. The OCHA data shows over 1,700 settler attacks documented in 2025 alone, at an average of five incidents per day. Settlement outposts established in 2025 near Atara, Birzeit, and Ein Siniya have triggered repeated attacks since August, compared to minimal incidents in the previous five years.

The violence is not random. It follows a pattern: outpost establishment, harassment, livestock theft, denial of water access, and forced displacement. The communities that remain are the ones that haven’t been forcibly displaced yet or have nowhere to go.

Critical Read

To understand how and why liberal modes of “Protective Presence” do little to sway the colonial violence, read this important analysis by the Good Shepherd Collective’s Lara Kilani and Cody O’Rourke entitled “Protective Presence and the Machinery of Control.”

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Daily Report: February 5, 2026

Turmus Ayya: 300 Olive Trees

The largest single act of destruction of olive trees happened on the evening of February 5 in the town of Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah. Settlers entered agricultural lands near the Abu Awad family home and cut down or uprooted roughly 300 olive trees.

Olive trees take years to mature. A tree planted today won’t produce a meaningful harvest for seven to ten years. Destroying 300 of them isn’t just property damage; it removes a decade of investment and a family’s long-term income.

Masafer Yatta: Susya Settlement Strikes Again

At 3:45 PM, settlers from the Susya settlement entered agricultural lands in the Agziwi area of Masafer Yatta, outside Yatta. They cut branches from about 70 olive trees, destroyed fencing belonging to Zuhair Fansha, and spray-painted racist slogans in Hebrew on an agricultural building.

Later that night, at 10:40 PM, a separate group stormed the Hamroush area in the town of Sa’ir and opened fire on residential homes.

Nablus: Three Attacks, Two Injured

In one day alone, the Nablus governorate endured three settler attacks:

Qusra (10:40 AM): Settlers attacked a farm belonging to Abdel Azim Wadi.

Wadi Haj Issa (12:25 PM): Settlers entered the area between Aqraba and Juresh villages and attacked homes.

Jabal Qammas (1:25 PM): Settlers entered agricultural lands between Beita and Osrin, cut down olive trees, and beat two people. Akram Zahi Adili and Ruqaya Fahmi sustained bruises from the assault.

The Jordan Valley

In Tubas governorate, settlers released livestock onto farmland twice in a single day. At 1:00 PM, settlers’ herds were let loose on wheat and barley fields in Khirbet Ahmar. At 5:25 PM, settlers entered Khirbet Samra, harassed residents, and threw stones at livestock pens.

Near Jericho, settlers did the same thing at 11:20 AM, releasing their animals onto farmland near Fasayel village. Near Bethlehem, another group released their livestock onto agricultural lands near Kisan village at 2:00 PM.

Ramallah: A 60-Year-Old Farmer Beaten

In the village of Burqa at 4:45 PM, settlers entered agricultural lands and attacked Abdel Rahim Khaled Maatan, a 60-year-old farmer working on his own land. He sustained bruises.

South of Al-Mughayir village, settlers released their herds onto farmland in the Khalayel area at 8:40 AM.

Qalqilya

At 4:00 PM, settlers entered agricultural lands in the Al-Duwair area north of Kafr Qaddum and cut branches from olive trees.