The extremists brought their livestock and destroyed the crops near a house, then threw stones at it. After residents tried to defend themselves, Israeli soldiers arrested them, protecting the attackers. In 2025 settlers' violence rose considerably. A new Jewish settlement was recently inaugurated near Beit Sahour.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – A Palestinian Christian woman was seriously wounded during an attack by Israeli settlers on her home in the West Bank.

The violent incident, the latest in a series that hit a record last year, occurred on Saturday on the outskirts of Birzeit, a town north of Ramallah, not far from the Atara military barrier.

The Jewish extremists first drove their livestock to graze near the woman’s home, then deliberately destroyed the family's crops, and finally threw stones at the house’s walls and windows.

Nafiz Emeid, son of 62-year-old Najat Jadallah Emeid, who suffered serious head injuries in the attack and is now hospitalised for treatment, spoke to local media about the attack.

“My mother was taken to the hospital and admitted to the intensive care unit, where it was discovered she had a fractured skull,” Nafiz said.

Nafiz himself was bruised and injured to his hands, while his brother Eid Emeid suffered a broken hand and finger while trying to push away the settlers after seeing his mother bleeding and nearly unconscious on the ground.

The settlers attacked him by throwing stones, so he responded by throwing stones at his attackers, injuring one of them in the head.

Surprised by the defensive response, the extremists called in the army, which intervened and arrested the members of the Christian family.

The soldiers raided the house and arrested Eid, Nafiz, and their cousins ​​Saeb and Basem. They later released only Nafiz.

“We didn’t attack the settlers; we didn’t assault them. We defended ourselves, our home, and our land against their barbaric attack,” Nafiz explained.

Najat's daughter, Nariman Koura, confirms the facts. “This is not the first attack" against the family, she said. It follows a series of episodes of intolerance and abuse, often carried out with the approval of the Israeli military and authorities. “Settlers regularly bring their sheep here to harass us and try to force us out,” she added.

Koura later admitted that the family fears further attacks, but is nevertheless determined to stay. “No matter what they do, we will not leave our land.”

After the incident, settlers began inciting violence online, calling for the demolition of the house and calling for attacks on Birzeit and Atara, omitting any reference to the attack on the elderly mother.

Wadie Abunassar, coordinator of the Holy Land Christian Forum, condemned the attack and the army’s subsequent arrest of family members, which leave him "speechless" amid growing helplessness in the face of settler violence and the impunity they enjoy.

According to the Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs, 41 attacks against Christians occurred in the first quarter of 2025, including verbal insults, spitting, stone throwing, and physical assaults.

In the second quarter, 69 attacks were reported, including desecration of holy sites, vandalism, spitting, and insults. A case in point is Taybeh, a Palestinian village that last year became a symbol of violence by Jewish extremists.

Furthermore, between 23 December 2025 and 5 January 2026, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented 44 settler attacks in the West Bank, resulting in property damage and at least 33 injuries among Palestinians, including children.

The violence also displaced approximately a hundred Palestinian families, who fled under threats and intimidation. For local activists, this is part of a plan of "ethnic cleansing " against Palestinian villages and towns.

According to the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, the settler population in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, reached 770,420 at the end of 2024, distributed across 180 settlements and 256 outposts, 138 of which are agricultural or pastoral.

All settlements in the Palestinian territories are considered illegal under international law, but they are supported and encouraged by the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, backed by far-right and pro-occupation movements.

The escalation of violence is also confirmed by data from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Israel’s security agency (Shin Bet), according to which raids and attacks increased by 27 per cent in 2025 compared to the previous year.

The number of severe incidents by extremist settlers inspired by "nationalistic" criminal motivation, classified by Israeli security agencies as acts of terrorism, also jumped by over 50 per cent.

Furthermore, the attacks, which occur on an almost daily basis, remain largely unpunished.

Officials with the IDF Central Command, responsible for the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, have stated that they feel a sense of failure for their inability to mitigate the growing violence.

During 2025, the IDF and Shin Bet recorded 867 cases of "nationalistic crime," compared to 682 the previous year, a 27 per cent increase.

In addition to the general rise in settler attacks, 2025 also saw an increase in the number of severe incidents, including shootings, arson, and other violent crimes: 128 in 2025 against 83 in 2024 and 54 in 2023.

The attacks and violence are closely linked to the Israeli government's expansionist policy, punctuated by the growing recognition of illegal settlements and outposts in Palestinian territory.

Last week, Israeli settlers inaugurated a new settlement on a hilltop overlooking the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour in the West Bank, marking the formal recognition of what until recently was an unauthorised outpost.

"Yatziv," meaning "stable" in Hebrew, was established with prefabricated homes in November and received official approval last month.

The government implemented heavy security measures, with Israeli soldiers stationed around the site as settlers gathered for the ceremony.

Beit Sahour, a predominantly Christian town located near Bethlehem and known worldwide as the biblical Shepherds' Field, is famous for being the site of the announcement of Jesus's birth.

• israel
• palestine
• west bank
• birzeit
• taybeh
• beit sahour
• yatziv
• settlers
• violence
• christians